Committee on Tumu disturbances inaugurated in Wa

The Upper West Regional Minister, Alhaji Sulemana Alhassan, has inaugurated a five-member committee to investigate the recent disturbances that left two persons dead in Tumu in the Sissala East Municipality in the Upper West Region.

The committee, chaired by a circuit court judge, Mr Baah Forson Agyapong, has a week, from Monday, May 28, to submit its report.

Other members of the committee are Kuoro Mohammed Z. Savio, representing the traditional authority; Braimah Razak Luriwie of the Sissala East District Assembly; Emmanuel Danyomah of the Regional Peace Council; and Adams Tauphic of the regional office of the National Youth Authority.

It has Alhaji A. Alhassan of the Regional Coordinating Council as non-member secretary.

Terms of reference

The committee is to investigate the cause(s), both remote and immediate, of the disturbances; assess the professional conduct of the local police and Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team in the disturbances; and ascertain the conduct of citizens of Tumu, especially the youth, in the incident.

It is also to examine any other matter relevant to the incident, and make recommendations to address matters arising from the disturbances to avert similar incidents in the future.

Disturbances

Disturbances in the area reached a climax last Friday when some youth of Tumu vandalised the local police station, official vehicles, and even attempted to burn the police station as they accused the police of being behind the drowning of a  youth on Thursday, May 17.

In the confusion, another person died in the process as the police fought back desperately to ward off the threat from the youth.

Calm has since returned to the town.

The minister however said “it will remain as one of the darkest spots in the history of our region.

“There is the need to delve into the matter, any person found culpable will have to face the laws of the country.

“We also need to put in place measures to prevent such occurrences in the future,” he stated.

The chairman of the committee, Mr Forson Agyapong, assured the minister of a diligent work from the committee to arrive at a solution that would help sustain the peace in Tumu and the entire region.