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The Eastern Region Caucus of the National Congress of Democracy (NDC) is calling for the immediate dismissal of the Odumase-Krobo region general manager for his role in the shooting incident that resulted in the death of A 14 year old boy yesterday.
In a press release signed by regional secretary Mark-Oliver Kevor, the NDC described as shameful the high authority of the Ghanaian police, which "undermines our reputation as a democratic state of good repute".
"We particularly condemn the inability of the head of the municipality to show leadership in this sensitive matter when leaders, opinion leaders and some youth groups from the region were approached, but we urged the police to realize the seriousness of the brutality of these vulnerable residents. We call on the president, who is supposed to be a human rights defender and a father for all Ghanaians, to immediately dismiss his representative, the MCE, if he does not resign. "
The residents of Odumase-Krobo clashed yesterday with the police after refusing Power Distribution Services' attempts to disconnect their electricity for outstanding bills that they vehemently disputed.
The clashes highlighted the brutal killing by shooting of a 14-year-old boy, injured nine times and 35 youths currently in police custody.
The NDC said the shots fired at unarmed residents during a peaceful protest were unjustified. Police in the East region said it needed to mobilize to defend itself, with residents wielding very offensive weapons.
The full text of the NDC press release is reproduced.
DRAWING OF HIGHLY CONDEMNABLE ODUMASE-KROBO RESIDENTS
The Regional Secretariat of the National Democratic National Congress of the East shamelessly condemns the killing of unarmed vulnerable residents of Bas Manya Krobo who were only participating in a peaceful demonstration without arms to urge the Power Distribution Company Services (PDS) to review their invoices. This inhumane act is very shameful and undermines our reputation as a democratic state of good repute.
In particular, we condemn the inability of the head of the municipality to show leadership in this sensitive matter when leaders, opinion leaders and some of the youth groups in the area approached her, but we urged the police to realize the seriousness of the brutalities inflicted on these vulnerable residents.
We call on the President, who is supposed to be a human rights defender and a father for all Ghanaians, to immediately dismiss his representative, the MCE, if he does not resign.
Similarly, we condemn Power Distribution Services' brutal approach to recovering the accumulated bills of poor residents, using brute force, an accumulation due to a failure of their system.
We also condemn the arrest of about thirty-five (35) youths by the Ghanaian police for the purpose of concealing this act of shameful violence on their part by using them as crazy goats. The death of at least three people has been confirmed, nine people in critical condition and several others wounded to varying degrees due to this reckless and unprofessional shooting.
We urgently request the release of these 35 young people currently in their custody to avoid further chaos.
The Democratic National Congress calls for calm around Odumase as we all take steps to help solve the billing problems that are the root cause of these atrocities. It will be remembered that these increased electricity bills due to the malfunction of the ECG software of that time became a thorny campaign issue in 2016 with the parliamentary MPP candidate of the time , now regional vice minister promising to cancel these debts and allowing residents to pay only current expenses. bills. It is in this context that residents have asked for a relaxed payment schedule to enable them to meet their obligations. We believe that this demand is right and should not be satisfied by such brutality and brute force. In any case, civil proceedings should be instituted by society rather than using the cohesive power of the state to intimidate and brutalize innocent citizens.
We send our sincere condolences to the family of the dead and also pray for the speedy recovery of the wounded.
It's really a sad day for Ghana !!!
SIGN
KEVOR, Mark-Oliver
Eastern Regional Secretary, NDC
Done at Koforidua on Thursday, May 23, 2019.
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