TESCONA calls on Deputy BA minister to resign

The Acting National Coordinator of TESCON Alumnae,(TESCONA) an umbrella of all former TESCON members and executives, Mr. Emanuel Tweneboa Kodua, has demanded the resignation of the Deputy Brong-Ahafo regional minister, Mr. Eric Opoku over the arrest of a murder suspect in his house in Accra .

Mr. Tweneboa Kodua told Space FM on phone from the Volta region that the resignation of the deputy minister would enhance smooth investigation into the matter.

"We of TESCONA believe that the stay of the minsiter in office may affect smooth investigation into the matter and as such he must resign honourbly", he said.

He said if the minister refuses to resign, the president should compel him to do so in the interest of ensuring fairness and justice. Â The suspected killer of an evangelist at Sankore in the Asunafo South constituency of the Brong-Ahafo Region was last Friday arrested from under the bed of the deputy minister at Sakumono near Tema.

The suspect, Kwasi Adu and two others, Baba Iddrisu and Kwabena Noah, now at large, supporters of the NDC, went on rampage in the town recently and allegedly attacked NPP sympathizers.

During the rampage, the NDC goons, with impunity, shot 40-year-old Kwame Nyame, a farmer and an evangelist, on July 19, 2009 and fled Sankore after the shooting.

The deceased passed away after a fortnight of hospitalization under intensive care at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi , where he had been referred to.

Having fled the town following their unruly conduct, word reached some youth in the town that Kwasi Adu, the man who allegedly fired the fatal shot, was hiding in the house of the minister, one-time MP for the electoral area who lost in the 2008 polls.

Last Thursday, the pursuers of the suspected murderer had a tip off that Kwasi Adu was sighted in the deputy regional minister's house. They therefore picked the next available vehicle from Sankore, arriving in Accra on Friday.

At about 8:00pm, they arrived at the Sakumono Police Station where they narrated their mission and were given two detectives for the arrest of the fugitive. At 9:00pm, they landed at the Block C3 to ferret out the suspected killers.

Upon arriving at the location, they knocked on the door of the apartment and mentioned the name of Kwasi Adu, immediately attracting the response of the deputy minister's driver and police bodyguard who secured the door from the "intruders".

Unfortunately for the suspect's protectors, his pursuers had spotted him already but he was whisked to the bedroom where he hid under the bed.

The detectives did not find their mission easy as the police bodyguard of the minister and driver insisted that since their boss was not available, they could not allow the suspect out of the place.

With the bodyguard and driver unwilling to budge, the detectives called for reinforcement and a patrol team from Tema arrived at the scene and cordoned off the place to prevent him from escaping through the back window.

The next trick thrown in by the suspect's protectors was to put out the lights in the apartment but the fact that the surrounding flats had lights did not convince the detectives that there was light off in the area.

They claimed that their pre-paid electricity fee had been exhausted but the detectives parried the excuse, explaining that they had torch lights.

Having come this far in the pursuit of the suspect, the men were prepared to pass the night if that could enable them achieve their objective of arresting the man who allegedly killed Kwame Nyame, whose body is still in the morgue at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital.

With enough men to undertake the operation, the cops moved into the house and searched from room to room until Kwesi Adu was 'discovered' hiding under a bed and he was pulled out.

Suspect Kwasi Adu's next destination was the Sakumono Police Station where he spent two nights and was subsequently transferred to the Brong Ahafo Regional Police Command, in Sunyani Sunday.

Meanwhile, Mr Eric Opoku is suspecting foul play.

He believes the whole incident was carefully planned and executed by his detractors to implicate and criminalise him.

According to him, the suspect, Kwasi Adu who is accused of killing an evangelist at Sankore in July, had been hoodwinked into going to his (Opoku’s) house.

Mr Opoku says at the time Kwasi Adu, accompanied by a brother got to his Sakumono flat, he was outside home with his wife.

He explained that as soon as the suspect sat down to explain that he had received a call claiming that the minister wanted to see him, there was a knock on the door.

“Kwasi Adu himself walked to the door and then saw some boy from Sankore and the driver of the current Member of Parliament for Asunafo South, Hon. George Boakye and some policemen and they said they wanted to arrest Kwasi Adu.  So my driver called me and said I should talk to the policemen to see what could be done.”

He said the police came with a torchlight and a camera and questioned the police's motive for coming to his residence to arrest a suspect with a camera.

Mr Eric Opoku denied media reports that he had stated on an Accra radio station that he didn’t know the suspect.

“I know Kwasi Adu to be an NDC member. I know Kwasi Adu to be part of our campaign during the 2008 elections and I have been told that (he) was part of the conflict that took place recently and I have not seen him since that incident,” he stated.

Mr Opoku, who is also the former MP for the Asunafo South Constituency, said the circumstances surrounding the suspect’s coming to his residence and the arrival of the police to effect his arrest, could not have been a coincidence.

The police have declined any further comment on the matter beyond confirming that the suspect was arrested at Sakumono.