The Youth Wing of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has vowed that a future government by their party will prosecute Fisheries Minister, Mavis Hawa Koomson, over public gun violence she perpetrated in the lead-up to the 2020 elections.
In a statement signed by National Youth Organizer, George Opare Addo, the assurance was given that not only Hawa Koomson, but every actor in the Akufo-Addo government who has perpetrated crime but has had their offence overlooked by the regime.
“We also want to assure all Ghanaians that crime has no expiration date and come 2025 when the NDC takes over the governance of our beloved country all those committing crimes against innocent Ghanaians will be properly investigated and everyone found culpable will be prosecuted,” the statement read.
The assurance was in response to revelations by the Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister that the Police has abandoned its case against her which resulted from the raiding of a voter registration centres in Kasoa with her gun-toting hired thugs.
Hawa Koomson who was then contesting to become the MP for Awutu Senya East had led her thugs to also beat up some civilians and burn their motorcycles. She would later boast that she wanted to show that violence was not the preserve of only men.
“The NDC is appalled and scandalized by this brazen abuse of State power by the Akufo Addo/Bawumia government and the Police CID to free a confessed trigger happy marauding gangster and her hoodlums. It is more worrying when the Minister confessed,” the NDC youth wing said.
It accused the Akufo-Addo government of being the mastermind behind the discontinuation of the criminal case against Hawa Koomson saying this is to shield a Minister of the regime from justice.
According to the statement, the discontinuation of the case has been an icing on machinations that the regime had started in 2020 to shield Hawa Koomson, including transferring the original Police officer who was investigating the case, Chief Superintendent Reuben Asiwoko, from the Central Region to the Eastern Region.
The youth wing also accused Acting Inspector General of Police, George Akuffo Dampare, of selectively leaving Hawa Koomson off the hook.
“It was expected that the applauds and commendations that greeted Dr George Akuffo Dampare’s appointment as acting Inspector General of Police would toughen him to stamp his authority to ensure the Police administration regained the confidence and trust of the citizenry. Unfortunately, however, the acting IGP’s first achievement was to kowtow to the dictates of the appointing authority to free Hawa Koomson who had openly confessed to firing gunshots in a public place without lawful authority. An act contrary to sections 206, 207 and 209 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29).”