ASP DASSAH MUST GO (Front page) 18-09-08

Story: Kofi Yeboah

THE committee that investigated the Ashaiman shooting incident has made far-reaching recommendations, including the dismissal of the Ashaiman Divisional Commander of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU), the mass transfer of all the MTTU personnel at Ashaiman and the relocation of the Ashaiman District Police Station.
It accused ASP Timothy Dassah, the MTTU Commander, of dereliction of duty, for which he should be dismissed from the Ghana Police Service.
It also recommended that the Ashaiman Divisional Police Commander, ACP W. J. Kwanair, and the Crime Officer, DSP Theophilus Narteh, should be reprimanded by the Police Administration for failing to report for duty and taking control of the disturbances that occurred at Ashaiman on June 3, 2008.
The committee, however, recommended the lifting of the interdiction on three police inspectors, Messrs Samuel Kwapong, John Laari and Edward Kwaku Adarkwah.
The three inspectors were among eight police officers of the MTTU who accompanied ASP Dassah on the operation on that fateful day which left two persons dead, several others injured and the destruction of property.
Sources close to the Ministry of the Interior made this known to the Daily Graphic after the committee had presented its report to the sector Minister, Dr Kwame Addo-Kufuor, in Accra on Tuesday.
Following the disturbances at Ashaiman, occasioned by a confrontation between the police and commercial drivers, the Minister of the Interior responded to public demand for investigations into the matter by setting up the five-member Committee of Inquiry, under the chairmanship of Mr Justice Clemence Jackson Honyenuga, an Appeal Court Judge, on July 23, 2008.
The other members of the committee were Professor Kenneth Agyemang Attafuah, COP (retd) Kwasi Nkansa, Professor Kofi Agyekum and Mrs Adelaide Anno-Kumi, member/secretary.
After about one month of investigations, the committee came up with a 34-point recommendation.
In its recommendation on the dismissal of ASP Dassah, the committee said his dereliction of duty constituted an act of grave misconduct which should not be countenanced in the Ghana Police Service.
“His failure to reasonably exercise his discretion to grant bail was an instance of unpardonable administrative injustice,” it noted.
The committee indicated that the eight MTTU officers who accompanied ASP Dassah on the operations that day in the course of their duty did no wrong, since their conduct was within the confines of the law, hence the call for the lifting of the interdiction on the three inspectors.
It, however, called for the reprimand of Inspector Adarkwah for failing to reasonably exercise his discretion to grant bail to the arrested drivers.
“His demeanour before the committee depicted him as a policeman who is disdainful and disrespectful of civilians in general. He seems to have lost his sense of purpose as a policeman to provide ‘service with integrity’ for the public,” the committee observed.
In respect of Sgt Jonathan Kodjoe, the committee said he should be made to continue with his police career at his new station, since he acted in defence of life and property when he fired shots to disperse the riotous mob in the circumstances in which he found himself.
It further recommended that in the interest of public safety and order, as well as improving upon the level of public confidence in the MTTU at Ashaiman, all the MTTU personnel stationed at Ashaiman should be transferred within three months, while calling on the Police Administration to vigorously pursue activities to enhance police-civilian relations.
It also recommended the relocation of the Ashaiman District Police Station to the premises of the Divisional Police Headquarters at Kaketo in order to take advantage of the spacious accommodation there for its functions.
On the other hand, the Divisional Headquarters should be relocated to the premises of the District Police Station, since the former had a lesser need for spacious accommodation, given the small number of people it received daily.
The committee asked the Regional Police Commander to organise regular and appropriate simulation exercises on riot control techniques and the use of live ammunition, adding that the Legal Directorate should also organise on-the-job training programmes twice every year for MTTU personnel on the laws, rules and regulations governing their operations in order to enhance their competencies.
It called on the Police Administration to, as a matter of urgency, establish a Rapid Response Unit or detachment to assist in dealing with the challenges of crime control and the maintenance of law and order, particularly in the Ashaiman municipality.
The Police Administration should also take steps, in collaboration with the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) and the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), to intensify education on police-civilian relations and human rights in the Ashaiman area.
It also requested the Chief Justice to, as a matter of urgency, set up a court of competent jurisdiction at Ashaiman, while calling on the government to establish an independent Police Complaint Commission, headed by a civilian, to receive and investigate allegations of major police misconduct.
The commission, it said, should have the statutory power to initiate prosecution against police personnel against whom evidence of wrongdoing were found.
It asked the government to pay monetary compensation to the families of the two deceased persons — Moses Kassim and Mustapha Sumai, aka Moses Ofori, aka Alhaji — as a token of sympathy for their regrettable killing by the police.
Furthermore, the government should pay monetary compensation to all persons, including police personnel, who established before the committee, with credible medical and other evidence, that they sustained significant injuries from the disturbances.
The committee urged the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly to collaborate with the MTTU and various private transport union officials to explore mechanisms to enforce road traffic rules and regulations in the municipality.
Receiving the report, Dr Addo-Kufuor thanked members of the committee for the good work done and assured them that the contents would be seriously studied and the recommendations implemented.
He said the report would be presented to the President on his return from the US and expressed the hope that it would help reform policing in the country in order to avoid a repetition of the incident.
Dr Addo-Kufuor said at the appropriate time a White Paper would be issued on the report.