Tension in Gomoa Fetteh

Tension is gradually mounting in Gomoa Fetteh, a farming community in the Awutu Senya Municipal District of the Central region, due to alleged frequent use of soldiers to attack innocent inhabitants in the community.

Omanhene of Gomoa Fetteh and Twafohene of Gomoa Tsampim, Nana Abor Yamoah II, who was not happy about the development in an exclusive interview with Today yesterday in Gomoa, expressed worry that the frequent presence of military personnel in Gomoa Fetteh after the recent shooting incident at Kasoa Millennium City had brought about fear and uneasiness within the community.

The chief believed that the alleged shooting incident which happened last week could have been disastrous if not the timely intervention of the police.

He, however, pointed out that the claim by some people including some media publications that the recent incident had made the area uninhabitable was false.

According to him, although Gomoa Feteh has had its fair share of brutalities regarding the ownership of landed properties when it comes to do with 21st Century Real Estate Developers, there was absolute peace in Gomoa Fetteh now, but he expressed worry that what happened in Kosoa could escalate to Gomoa Fetteh if the issue was not dealt with immediately.

“People are using the military to intimidate my people. What I want to say is that, government must ensure that those investigating the matter do thorough job to ascertain the source of the clash. That way we will all be at peace,” the chief stressed.

Nana Abor Yamoah II appealed to government of President John Dramani Mahama to impress upon the agencies investigating the recent shooting incident at the Kasoa Millennium City to carry out proper and thorough investigations so as to put to rest the unending misunderstanding among property owners in the area.

According to him, proper investigation is prerequisite for peace in the area and that President Mahama must ensure that the agencies which are investigating the matter do independent investigations since he fears the protracted dispute could escalate to his traditional area.

Nana Abor Yamoah II called on President Mahama to monitor the activities of the military personnel who come to the area to intimidate his people.

Last week Thursday, one person was shot in the head by a group of persons in military uniforms at the Kasoa Millennium City.

The unidentified resident was gunned down when some of the aggrieved locals massed up to address a press conference over what they described as “unauthorised demolition” sanctioned by a private developer–21st Century Construction.

According to reports, the men in uniforms shot into the crowd when they resisted calls to make way for the demolition exercise.

Few people were rushed to hospital for treatment, having suffered gunshot wounds.

This brewed serious tension in the Kasoa Millennium City and the police had to rush to the scene to restore calm.

Reports also indicated that, the military men had no name tags or their ranks on while the vehicle they were using for the operations were unregistered.

However, government has indicated its readiness to investigate the matter.

Meanwhile, Nana Abor Yamoah II made a passionate appeal to the leadership of the Armed Forces to ensure that the roles of their personnel were well defined so as not to interfere in the peaceful co-existence of people in a given community.

The Gomoa Feteh chief used the occasion to thank his people and wished them happy "Akwambo” annual festival, assuring them that next year’s celebration will be more spectacular.