Govt asked to take up shooting incident with Togolese

Accra, May 13, GNA - A Member of Parliament on Friday appealed to the government of Ghana to take up a matter involving a shooting incident with the Togolese authorities whose military personnel shot and injured three Ghanaians following post-elections violence in that country last April.

Mr Albert Zigah, NDC-Ketu South, said the Government should seek compensation from the Togolese authorities to ensure that everything was done to save the lives of the three persons.

Making a statement on the floor of the House, the MP said on April 26 this year, the Togolese Military "intentionally fired bullets into a group of people at their place of residence within the homeland of Ghana".

He said this action resulted in serious injuries sustained by Linda Donu, aged 10, Mabel Ahedor, 13 and King Kosmos, 28, all citizens of Ghana, who had to be admitted at the Aflao District Hospital with bullets embedded in their bodies.

"It is amazing and most unfair for the military of a sister country, Togo, to behave in such a manner, creating tension along the border line. The military again fired tear gas into the crowd where the incident occurred."

" Mr Speaker, I wish to state that the Togo security forces have actually failed in the military code of conduct and ethics. This is to say no matter the degree of misunderstanding after their Presidential election, they have no authority to fire gunshots into our dear motherland Ghana...", the MP said.

He urged the Government together with their Togolese counterpart to ensure that such an unfortunate incident did not occur again.

Mr Zigah said as a result of post election violence, there were lots of refugees coming in through Aflao resulting in a steep rise in the cost of foodstuff, especially maize, with accommodation facilities becoming a major problem for the Ketu District Assembly.

He appealed for support from the Government and other agencies to assist the Assembly and expressed gratitude to the Deputy Ministers of the Volta Region and Interior for their timely visit to the area and the victims, while on admission.

In their contributions to the statement, the Majority Leader, Mr Felix Owusu-Adjapong and Deputy Minority Leader, Mr Edward Doe Adjaho, asked that copies of the statement be made available to the Ministries of Defence, Foreign Affairs and Interior for action to be taken on the matter.