Otumfuo's Saamanhene arrested over shooting incident at palace

Kumasi (Ashanti Region), 8 Feb, 1999

Kumasi (Ashanti Region), 8 Feb, 1999 Nana Antwi the Second, Saamanhene of Ashanti, was over the weekend arrested and placed in police custody following a shooting incident during a demonstration by about 2,000 supporters of Kumasi Asante Kotoko football club at the Manhyia Palace in Kumasi. The Saamanhene, who by custom is supposed to guard the Manhyia Palace and had gone to assist the palace guards during the demonstration, shot through the crowd and injured nine of the supporters. A source close to the Police Public Relations Directorate in Kumasi, said the supporters marched to the palace to seek audience with the Asantehene, Otumfuo Opoku Ware the Second, who is also the life patron of the club, and present a petition requesting him to appoint a new Board Chairman for the Club. The source said while the supporters tried to force their way into the palace, the guards at the palace fired warning shots to disperse the demonstrators who had massed behind the palace gate. The Saamanhene was said to have shot into the demonstrators who chanted and sang war songs. The nine people who sustained injuries were rushed to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) where they were treated and discharged. After the shooting incident, the incensed crowd invaded the Saamanhene's palace opposite the Manhyia palace and caused damage to slide-doors, louver blades and the windscreen of a Nissan pick-up parked at the palace. Two people, Gado Abubakari and Alhaji Sumaila, suspected to be involved in the vandalism have been arrested and placed in police custody. Some Kotoko players who accompanied the demonstrators abandoned the Kotoko Autosan bus while policemen were deployed to guard the palace. Some of the demonstrators told newsmen that the demonstration was peaceful and condemned the shooting incident.