Manhyia demands independent investigation into killing of 'wee smoker' by lockdown police

The Manhyia Palace says it is unconvinced by the explanation given by the Ashanti Regional Police Command for the killing of a 33-year old man at Konkori in the Atwima Kwanwoma District of the Ashanti region.

Mynewsgh.com reported on Wednesday morning that, the man, Kwabena Tweneboah Kodua had been beaten to death by some police officers who were enforcing the President’s “stay home” directive, for standing in front of his house at a time that he was expected to be sleeping.

But a statement from the Police contradicts the story told by the family source on Kumasi-based Angel FM, that, the deceased was beaten and whisked away in the bucket of a pick-up truck after detecting weed on the deceased.

According to the Police, the operations had nothing to do with the COVID-19 operations.

The Policemen who chased Tweneboah Koduah after finding him smoking Indian hemp were on the usual night patrol at the area, ASP Godwin Ahianyo, the Ashanti Regional Police PRO said in the statement.

The Police mentioned that after arresting Koduah and dragging him to the bucket of the police vehicle, Tweneboah Koduah jumped from the moving car and unfortunately hit his head against a stone.

The Police in its statement revealed that with the contradicting stories surrounding Koduah’s death, the Regional Crime Officer has been tasked to investigate the issue to unravel Tweneboah’s death.

But Adumhene, one of the prominent chiefs at the Manhyia Palace, who is the Overlord of the Konkori Town says “the explanations by the police PRO do not add up and doubts that it was sanctioned by the “honourable, honest, respectful”, Regional Commander, DCOP Mensah Duku”.

In a video exclusively available to MyNewsGh.com, Baffour Agyei Kese who had visited the crime scene called for the immediate rearrest of the policemen who perpetrated the brutality for a full scale independent investigation to commence.

He said per the evidence available on the ground, those policemen had a sinister motive against the deceased; “they had gone to his workplace and later traced him to his home; I’m told they don’t belong to the patrol team in this jurisdiction, so what the hell were they doing here; they must come to explain to us”.

The revered chief said even if it is true that the deceased was smoking wee or even sold wee, there was no justification to kill him.