No Sallafest at Asawase community centre

The Asawase Community Centre in the Ashanti Region, which hosted an Eid ul-Fitr event that caused the death of nine people more than two months ago, will remain closed during the Eid ul-Adha celebrations.

This was revealed by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Asawase, Muntaka Mubarak, who said the community centre would not host any event despite numerous calls for it to be reopened for entertainment programmes.

“We have closed the centre down since that incident. … We will only open it when we are sure that the place is safe. I know the inconvenience it is causing but they (residents) should bear with us because we want to do the right thing and make sure such a thing never happens again,” he noted.

The nine people who died in the stampede were involved in the Eid ul-Fitr celebrations on the dawn of Thursday July 7. The dead comprised six females and three males.

Class FM’s Ashanti regional correspondent, Hafiz Tijani, reported that the rush to exit the enclosure, following the breakout of a fight among some revellers, led to the deaths as well as several injuries.

Mr Mubarak, who is also the Majority Chief Whip further explained that authorities “have sent the Fire Service, a number of security people, and experts to review the structure of the building because it has been there for ages”.

He said several measures were being taken to make the place safer. He revealed that after investigation, it was discovered that the venue had three exits but “squatters have sealed the other two”.

For him, safety was paramount and stakeholders would not yield to pressure to have the place opened until the venue was secure to host parties.