Tafo Rioters For Court

COP Kofi Boakye shaking hands with Nana Agyen Frimpong

The stoutly-built men, who allegedly assaulted the Tafohene, Nana Agyen Frimpong II, over the fencing of a cemetery at Tafo in Kumasi, will be hauled to court in the coming days.

The docket on the suspects namely, Jah Rule, Scorpion and Fulani, which was sent to the Attorney General’s (AG’s) Department for advice, is now ready for them to be prosecuted.

COP Kofi Boakye, the Ashanti Regional Police Commander, said the three, who are currently on bail, were arrested by the police immediately they allegedly attacked the Tafohene in February this year.

He explained that the police were then told that the Tafo Traditional Authority and the leadership of the Muslim community, led by Sheikhs and Imams, were amicably resolving the impasse, hence the delay in the prosecution.

COP Kofi Boakye stated that since it had become clear that the matter could not be resolved peacefully, the police had no other option than to haul the suspects to court to face the law.

 

Complaint

The police commander’s statement was in response to Nana Agyen Frimpong’s complaint to him that those that assaulted him (Tafohene) about six months ago were still walking freely.

This was when COP Kofi Boakye led a powerful police delegation to the Tafohene’s palace on Wednesday to find out what had sparked fresh tension at Tafo since last Sunday.

One Kwadwo Antwi, 23, a said indigene of Tafo, was said to have been severely injured in the head when some people violently attacked him during a free-for-all brawl at Score Board Drinking Spot at Tafo.

COP Kofi Boakye stated that police investigations so far, had revealed that Sunday’s attack had nothing to do with the fracas at Tafo that was occasioned by the fencing of a cemetery.

He disclosed that some teenagers – between the ages of 14 and 16 –  reportedly attacked Kwadwo Antwi over a different matter, which had nothing to do with the cemetery issue, so nobody should try to link the two cases.

COP Kofi Boakye noted that the police were treating Sunday’s case as a criminal issue, sternly warning that the police were on the heels of the perpetrators and all other troublemakers in Tafo.

 

Tafohene

The Tafohene, without mincing words, blamed the recently dismissed Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) boss, Kojo Bonsu – who singularly granted the Zongo youth permission to fence the cemetery – for causing the Tafo troubles six months ago.

He said he was not happy that those who attacked him six months ago were still roaming about freely and appealed to the police to prosecute them with immediate effect, for peace to prevail.

The Tafo chief, who looked extremely peeved, also complained that the   indigenes, whose properties were destroyed during the riots, had not received any compensation from the government.

 

Zongo Meeting

COP Kofi Boakye later in a meeting with the Zongo community, warned that if the Tafo trouble surfaced again, he would order for a fresh curfew to be imposed in the area, as was done six months ago.

The police chief stated that his outfit was combat ready to deal ruthlessly with anyone or group that would try to disturb the peace of Tafo, irrespective of the person’s ethnic or political affiliation.

 

Media Warned

He also cautioned the media to refrain from publishing sensational reports that could incite the people, stressing that generalization of issues must also stop so that individuals that break the law could be arrested and prosecuted.

Sheikh Mohammed Lamin, one of the Muslim leaders at Tafo Zongo, said every law breaker in the area should be dealt with singularly as the law demands, adding that the trend whereby individual’s offences are attributed to the entire Zongo or Asante community is not the best.

He claimed that the Zongo community has no problem with the indigenes of the town.

FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi