Ashanti Regional Police Commander, COP Kofi Boakye, has said the police will deal with persons who will want to disturb the peace at Tafo. He has also asked his men to arrest persons involved in any form of violence.
Over 150 youth from Tafo in Kumasi on Tuesday August 2 besieged the chief's palace to demand guns for their personal protection.
According to them, some youth from the Zongo community in the area had been threatening them and trying to spark fresh conflict.
The youth called on Nana Agyen Frimpong II and his elders as well as the security agencies to help resolve the festering disagreement once and for all.
The latest move by the youth was in response to an alleged attack on a man the previous weekend by some Zongo youth. The victim was treated at the hospital and discharged later.
The police commissioner, who was addressing members of the community on Wednesday August 3, following the agitations, asked both parties not to link the recent assault to the clashes that occurred in the area a few months ago over a piece of cemetery land.
He called on them to desist from giving conflicts in the area an ethnic or religious slant as such descriptions could create further divisions and lead to undesirable repercussions.
He also pointed out that clashes in the Tafo area were not due to religious differences.
COP Boakye emphasised that anyone who breaks the law would be dealt with individually and prosecuted. “Violence will not help anyone and the youth who say one person died in the February incident and want to retaliate should know that he was killed by police, not by any faction,” he added.
He continued: “I grew up in a Zongo and believe in both the Bible and Quran. We are in an election year; we do not want any problems. If the youth in Tafo want to create chaos, we will also make sure we clamp down on you. We will plead with the Chief Imam and the Tafo chiefs to settle any issues amicably for peace to reign.”
Meanwhile the Chief of Tafo, Nana Agyen Frimpong II, has cautioned troublemakers in the area and expressed displeasure about the decision of the police to release some youth who were arrested in the previous clashes.
He was of the view that law enforcers had to do a diligent job in investigating cases and prosecuting offenders. He expressed concerns about the attacks on indigenes of the town and charged officials to act to avert further assault on residents. “It is very painful and if government … does not intervene, we will advise ourselves,” he noted.
Meanwhile, an Islamic scholar at the Tafo Zongo community, Sheik Osman Hafiz Bawa, has assured the regional commander that he would impress upon the youth to stop the violent acts and maintain peace in the area.
Also, the Zongo chief for the area, Alhaji Seidu Chibsah, has said irrespective of their ethnicity or religion, individuals involved any acts of violence at Tafo should be arrested and prosecuted to serve as a deterrent to others.
The chief urged the police not to fail in their duty to punish wrongdoers in order to forestall chaos.
According to him, people who were involved in previous acts of vandalism had not been made to face the law, a situation he believes has served as an incentive for more people in the Zongo community to perpetrate crime.
“I think they should arrest people and punish them to send a message that there are laws to put an end to the impunity,” he told Prince Minkah on the Executive Breakfast Show on Wednesday August 3.
Over 150 youth from Tafo in Kumasi on Tuesday August 2 besieged the chief's palace demanding guns for self-protection.
According to them, some youth from the Zongo community in the area had been threatening them and trying to spark fresh conflict.
The youth have, therefore, called on Nana Agyen Frimpong II and his elders as well as the security agencies to help resolve the festering disagreement once and for all.
The latest move by the youth was in response to an attack on a man the previous weekend, allegedly by Zongo people. The victim was treated at the hospital and discharged later.
According to the Zongo chief, “Security must move in fast, investigate, and settle the matter.”
In February this year, tensions over a piece of cemetery land in the town resulted in the destruction of several properties and the loss of one life.
After months of curfew in the town, the chair of the Ashanti Regional Security Council (REGSEC), John Alexander Ackon, told Class News on Thursday April 21 that security agencies were confident that peace had been restored to the town and, therefore, lifted the curfew.
But the Zongo chief said: “Some take advantage of the pending cemetery issue to settle personal scores. What we heard was that the gentleman (assault victim) met some people who were having broken bottles and they assaulted him.” “Nobody knows what really happened prior to the attack,” he explained.
On the issue of the cemetery, he indicated that the Zongo youth believed they were being harassed because the place of burial belonged to them but the indigenes wanted to appropriate the land. “But that is wrong,” the Muslim chief noted, adding that the cemetery land was given to the Muslims out of the benevolence of the Tafohene generations ago. “Nobody came to Ashanti with land. I am an immigrant,” he said, adding: “The youth think the land has been purchased. A committee was set up some time ago to look into the issue. They should come out [and report their findings] so people know who owns the land.”
Meanwhile, he has indicated that there would be a meeting at the Central Mosque involving all the chiefs of the various tribes and groups to deliberate on the issue and warned the youth to refrain from violence. “No need going violent. Violence does not bring anything good,” he added.
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