Ho West Assembly driver allegedly kills man over GHC25

A driver of the Ho West District Assembly in the Volta Region has killed a young man over 25 cedis, triggering a violent attack on the offices of the assembly Wednesday morning.

The driver, identified only as John, is said to have demanded that the deceased, Darkeh Wisdom, who operates a mini drinking bar cum provision shop, pays a local assembly tax of 25 cedis.

Witnesses say Wisdom told the driver, who is alleged to have been parading himself as a member of the assembly’s revenue taskforce, that he does not readily have the money to make the payment.

Wisdom, popularly known as Pen Top, was said to have impressed on the driver to give him some time to raise the money to pay because he was not given prior notice but he did not budge.

This, according to eyewitnesses, resulted in a heated exchange between the two forcing the driver to lock up the shop, something that caused the situation to escalate, resulting in fisticuffs.

The shop owner out of anger slapped the driver for refusing to open the shop to enable him take evacuate his sales, eyewitnesses claimed.

The driver, according to the eyewitnesses, threatened to kill Wisdom.

A bystander was said to have offered to pay the 25 cedis to put the issue to rest, but the unyielding driver refused to accept the money.

One of the eyewitnesses, who spoke to 3news.com a while ago on condition of anonymity, claimed the driver went straight into the pick-up vehicle he came in with, started it and moved it to knock down Wisdom.

“That was not all, he reversed and ran the vehicle over him and drove off,” the witness said, noting Wisdom died instantly.

His body was left in a pool of blood at the scene, which is by the roadside, for about three hours before the police arrived to remove it.

The driver is said to have gone into hiding, the eyewitness told 3news.com.

Retaliatory attack

But the incident which angered the youth triggered an attack against the district assembly later in the afternoon.

One of the assembly’s vehicles was torched and sliding glass windows of the assembly building were all shattered by the rampaging youth in what is believed to be payback.

The District Chief Executive was also said to have been chased out of his office.

Police in the area are yet to issue a statement on the incident which is said to have created tension in the area and likely to worsen.