Asawase shooting: GHC250k not enough; GHC1m would’ve been better – Muntaka

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Asawase constituency, Mohammed Mubarak-Muntaka, has commended the government for taking the bold decision to compensate the families of the seven victims of last year’s Asawase shooting incident.

However, he said the GHC250,000 cash compensation package to the families of each of the victims is woefully inadequate, preferring instead a higher cash compensation package of at least an amount of GHC1,000,000.000.

He believes that the GHC1, 000,000.00 compensation package would have gone a long way to sustain the families of the victims some of whom he claims, were largely dependent on some of the departed souls.

The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, while addressing the Zongo for Peace and Development Conference on Tuesday, January 8, 2019, announced a compensation package totalling GHC1, 750,000 to be paid to the families of the victims of last year’s Asawase shooting incident.

According to the President, GH?250,000 for each of the seven (7) families is to be paid to the dependents of the deceased, explaining that “even though money cannot replace the life of a human being, it is being offered as a way of accepting the responsibility of the State in this tragic affair”.

He, therefore, appealed to residents of Asawase and the families of the victims to continue to exercise restraint as the sad, unfortunate matter is addressed within the confines of the law and due process.

However, the Asawase lawmaker interacting with Accra-based Okay FM, Wednesday, over the move made by the government said it would have been his wish for the families of the victims to have been compensated with at least GHC1,000,000.00.

“I was hoping that at least each one would be compensated GHC1,000,000.00. This would not be enough to bring back the departed soul but at least it will be enough to do something for the family. Some of the victims have children – one of them has four children and so the money would have gone a long way to support their upkeep. If you are poor and hears of the amount of GHC250,000.00, one would think that it is a huge money but if you go into real life where you will be paying school fees, feeding fees among others – remember that some of the victims were also breadwinners of their family and so if you spread the GHC250,000.00 over a period of ten years, that will not be enough to sustain them. That is why I was hoping that each was compensated with GHC1,000,000.00 for the family to invest about GHC500,000.00 into an investment fund like fixed deposit or treasury bills over a period. But with this GHC250,000.00, if care is not taken, before the families realize, the children of the victims will become orphans. Nevertheless, the government must be commended for taking the bold decision to compensate the family of the victims”, he underscored.