The Member of Parliament for Nkoranza South in the Bono East Region, Emmanuel Kwadwo Agyekum, has condemned personnel of the Ghana Police Service for using live bullets on some demonstrating youth in Nkoranza.
According to the legislator, the use of live bullets to control the crowd that besieged the police station was unprofessional, unwarranted and needless.
Speaking to GhanaWeb after he paid a visit to the family of Victor Owusu who was allegedly shot by armed police officers during the demonstration, to condole with them, the MP chastised the police for opening fire on the demonstrators who were only exercising their democratic rights.
Displaying an empty cartridge that was allegedly used by the police to dispel the demonstrators, he demanded justice for Victor Owusu and asked that the officers behind the shooting be punished since the police had no right to shoot and kill under those circumstances.
“This is a live bullet(sic) which was used on the innocent guys who were only championing justice for Albert, their brother. They used this live bullet(sic) to kill Victor as well”, the MP disclosed.
He condemned what he describes as “prejudicial killing and brutality” by the police on innocent citizens at the least provocation and charged Ghanaians to rise because the police cannot be allowed to continue on the needless spree of killing innocent citizens at the least provocation.
“Something needs to be done because this killing and prejudicial killing and police brutality have to stop and it must be stopped here. We have to champion it. If you are Ghanaian, this is the time, you have to champion the “Police brutality must stop” and it must stop now”.
The use of live bullets by security operatives to quell a marauding crowd has come under serious scrutiny and ignited strong public condemnation after military personnel opened fire on some demonstrators in Ejura on June 29, 2022.
The demonstrators were protesting the gruesome murder of Ibrahim Mohammed popularly known as Macho Kaaka.
The incident which led to the death of two people and injured four others prompted the setting up of a three-member committee, chaired by a Court of Appeal Judge, George Kingsley Koomson to probe the disturbances.
George Kingsley Koomson rejected the use of live bullets to dispel demonstrators as it can be fatal and recommended the use of plastic bullets instead in such circumstances.
Also, in February 2022, the Minority Leader and Member of Parliament (MP) for Tamale South, Haruna Iddrisu, urged the police to adopt a more tactical approach to quell disturbances after some uniformed police personnel mistakenly shot and killed a Junior High School graduate in Tamale during a protest.
