The two Delta Force members who were arrested in connection with disturbances at the Tafo-Pankrono Constituency have been remanded by a Kumasi Circuit Court to re-appear on October, 24 2018.
The two NPP polling station executives, 49 year old,Paul Attah Onyinah and 51-year old Richard Yaw Brefo, have been charged with conspiracy to cause unlawful damage, causing unlawful damage and rioting.
There was heavy police presence at the premises of the Kumasi Circuit Court.
The prosecution, which was led by Phillip B. Jagri, told the court that the suspects with their accomplices caused damaged to plastic chairs worth Ghc 1,000.
Lawyer for the suspects,William Kusi, prayed the court to grant his clients bail since the case was a misdemeanor.
The lawyer also argued that the two-week remand was too long.
The lawyer, who advised political party supporters not to engage in violent activities, also asked politicians to fulfill promises they make to their supporters.
The Court presided over by Her Honor, Lydia Osei Marfo, remanded the suspects to re-appear in two weeks.
The men are suspected to be part of aggrieved Delta Force members who disrupted a meeting of constituency executives chaired by the Member of Parliament for that constituency, Dr. Anthony Akoto Osei over the weekend.Reports say the group wanted to physically assault the MP who doubles as Monitoring and Evaluation Minister over failed election promises before the 2016 general elections.
The MP, was however assisted to escape unhurt. Three other members of the group are believed to be on the run.
Meanwhile, the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), has condemned the incident, saying that activities of the Delta Force, and other similar vigilante groups in the country, pose a serious threat to the country’s peace and security.
Addressing journalists on the matter on Monday, the Chairperson of the NCCE, Josephine Nkrumah, called on the government ensure that the culprits are duly punished.
“Political party vigilantes have no space in Ghana’s democratic culture. The NCCE expresses it repulsion at confirmed reports of self-styled leaders of vigilante group Delta Force, associated with the ruling political party, the NPP striking again…. Delta Force hoodlums have become notorious for the use of force and violence in total disregard for law and order,” it said.
But the Deputy General Secretary of the governing New Patriotic Party, Nana Obiri Boahen, believes that the media has exaggerated the alleged attack, describing it as nothing serious.
Delta Force emboldened by lenient punishment in Kumasi court attack – NCCE Boss
The NCCE boss has also suggested that the punishment handed to members of pro-NPP group, Delta Force, following their attack on the Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator in 2017, and the subsequent storming of the court to free their colleagues, was not severe enough to deter other persons from perpetrating similar acts.
13 members of the group who stormed the office of the Regional Security Coordinator, were fined GHc 1,800 each after they pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit crime and rioting at the Asokwa District Court in Kumasi.
They also signed a bond to be of good behaviour for 12 months, after their lawyer had pleaded for a non-custodial sentence for them.
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Source: Citinewsroom.com
