The apparent exoneration of the police from the shooting to death of a 23-year-old man at Odumase-Krobohas come under serious and bitter criticism by the victim’s family, who believed that new investigations, other than the findings in the police report, should be conducted and the real perpetrators of the act identified.
The family of the late Thomas Partey who was shot and killed during the spontaneous protests against the Power Distributions Services, PDS at Odumase-Krobo has rejected a police report on the circumstances leading to the death of their son.
An attempt by the Power Distribution Company (PDS) to recover debt owed the company in Yilo and Manya Krobo in the Eastern Region through what it called ‘revenue mobilization exercise’, turned bloody on Wednesday, May 22, 2019 with the killing of Thomas Partey and gunshot wounds to six persons, one of whose leg has been amputated.
The report which release followed persistent requests from the family to the Odumase-Police Command and subsequently to the Inspector-General of Police was however, according to the head of family, fraught with several inaccuracies and untruths.
Winfred Sam Partey, family head and spokesman of Nene Koryotse We (family), also finds unacceptable what he called a shabby, scanty autopsy report released by the Police Service prior to Partey’s burial on Saturday, July 13, 2019.
The failure of the police to present a formal report to the family following the death of the deceased prompted the family to put in a formal request for the report.
The family in a letter dated 10th June, 2019 addressed to the Odumase Police command and copied to the Dorm Matse (Dorm Chief) the Divisional Police Commander and the Municipal chief executive, demanded a copy of “the investigative report on the incident to enable the family fully appreciate the circumstances that led to the untimely demise of our son”.
Failure by the police to respond to the family’s demand, the family in a letter dated 24th June, 2019 petitioned the IGP to institute investigations into the matter, a letter which also did not elicit any reply or action on their demands.
The family was therefore compelled to, on the 8th of July, 2019 issue a press release, threatening to dump the remains of the deceased at the Odumase Police command if they did not get any response on the circumstances surrounding the shooting to death of Thomas Partey that fateful day.
The police service, following this threat, was therefore compelled to issue a formal report on the circumstances leading to the death of the victim.
But the report, signed by Supt Michael Addae did not implicate the police in the death of the deceased, rather suggesting that it could not conclude on the source of the shooting.
The head of the Nene Koryotse We is also disputing part of the report which claimed that about 1000 youth armed with guns and machetes were on a mission to among others, kill the Municipal Chief Executive, Simon Kweku Tetteh, burn down the municipal assembly, set the MCE’s vehicle ablaze, and pelting of stones at the police.
But, the victim’s family utterly differed with the Police.
Mr. Partey in criticizing the police report released by the Odumase-Krobo police command is therefore calling for new investigations on the exact circumstances leading to Thomas’ death and more clarity on the autopsy report submitted to the family, or the family would advise itself.
“In fact the report that they gave, I’m not satisfied with it at all so I want the police to give me a proper investigative report on the death of my son, else, I’ll advise myself”, warned Mr. Partey.
The autopsy report sighted by this journalist and signed by Chief Superintendent Dr. O. Owusu Afriyie at the Police Hospital in Accra attributed the cause of death to “hemorrhagic shock, severe chest injury and gun shot at close range”, without any further details, a report the family head is discontented with.
The victim’s family have therefore appealed to the Ghana Police Service to conduct further investigations into the incident and ascertain the exact circumstances leading to Partey’s shooting. “
Source: ritefmonline.org
