Ensure There Is Absolute Fairness In The Saga of The Police, The Driver And His Mate - COPEC

Executive Secretary of the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC), Mr. Duncan Amoah is asking the police and government to ensure fairness in the matter involving the assaulted police officer, the driver and his mate.

He says, he is appalled by the treatment meted out to the driver and his mate in the case involving them and the police officer.

Speaking to Kwame Nkrumah Tikese on Okay FM's 'Ade Akye Abia' programme, he explained that from the way things are going it looks like the driver and his mate may not be treated fairly.

Condemning the act, he explained that though the driver and his mate may be wrong, they are entitled to a lawyer as they appear in court.

"More so, why are the driver and his mate being charged whilst the police officer has been left off the hook?" he asked.

"The police must be seen to be fair in this matter in order to regain their public sympathy," he added.

He is therefore asking the Inspector General of Police and the Attorney General of the Republic to ensure a true and thorough investigations is conducted and to further ensure that nothing but absolute fairness prevails in this matter which is duly captured on video.

Below Is A Statement From COPEC

CHAMBER OF PETROLEUM CONSUMERS-GHANA

19-03-19

ENSURE THERE IS ABSOLUTE FAIRNESS IN THE SAGA OF THE POLICE, THE DRIVER AND HIS MATE.

News of a viral video of a fight between a police officer and a commercial driver and his drivers assistant went viral a few days ago leading to public outbursts and outright condemnation.

Whiles we at Copec join in condemning the open brawl and apparent public nuisance this sort of open confrontation generates, it is also commendable that the law is seen to being applied with all the swiftness one can fathom.

Notwithstanding however, we believe the law should NOT be skewed in any way, shape or form to suit anyone be it an officer in uniform or the driver and his mate.

Several eye witnesses account after the video went viral and the subsequent arrest of the driver and his mate has pointed to the gross and inappropriate conduct on the part of the said police officer who is believed to have initiated or started the said fight by repeatedly dishing slaps and hitting the driver in the said trotro after he stopped to arrest him for jumping a traffic light.

The said driver and his mate have subsequently, within 48 hours been processed before the law courts even without a legal representation, though the said officer who is believed to have initiated or started the slapping and "hitting" or physical assault is now a hero and walks freely because he was in uniform.

Whiles a good section of the police in whom Ghanaians and the law have invested confidence and logistics in protecting human lives and proterties continue to work very hard, passionately and professionally in the discharge of their duties, some few others also continuously apply their own set of laws contrary to what the Ghanaian laws provide and will go to all lengths possible sometimes to show brute "power" to largely the poor and defenseless people within society.

It has not been long ago that some 7 innocent Ghanaians were shot at and killed with all manner of excuses of them being armed robbers which only turned out to be completely untrue though the lives of these 7 young men had already been wasted.

This took the President of the Republic himself to go down there to calm tempers after this barbaric act, but as we speak the Ghanaian public is not aware of any sanctions having been applied to the said officers who engaged in this barbarism and trigger happy behaviour.

Another police officer, less than a fortnight ago, also decided to take the laws in his own hands once again by brutally assaulting some Ghanaian Times journalist after his own unlicensed motorbike apparently crushed into a car carrying these journalists and the subsequent confrontation leaving these journalists badly injured and even going ahead to "lock" up the injured for daring to ask questions and recording a lawless police officer.

Instances of police brutalities and excesses on these commercial drivers abound and we believe the police adninistration would need to do an urgent in-house cleaning to immediately weed out some of these misfits who continue to bring shame and opprobrium to the integrity of the esteemed police service.

A responsible Chamber like ours, will sure not condone lawlesness and will neither sit unconcerned whiles a key section of our Membership who are ably represented by the GPRTU Chair at the Council Level continues to suffer the excesses injustices and subsequent man-handling from some officers in uniform.

We are hereby calling on the Inspector General of Police and the Attorney General of the Republic to ensure a true and thorough investigations be immediately conducted and to further ensure that nothing but absolute fairness prevails in this matter which is duly captured on video, of an apparent public brawl between an officer who should obviously know better even in the application of the law but deciding to rather use "slaps" on citizens for road traffic offences as this falls contrary to what the law itself dictates.

Signed

Duncan Amoah
Executive Secretary