Killers of Kotoko Fan To Face Prosecution

The Committee of Enquiry set up to investigate the shooting incident at the Kotoko-Goldfields match last November has recommended the prosecution of those suspected to have gunned down the Kotoko fan.

Additionally, the committee has suggested to the Ghana Football Association (GFA) to try and settle the friction between Goldfields Football Club and Kumasi Asante Kotoko once and for all to avoid future clashes between supporters of the two clubs.

This came to light when the Committee presented its report to the Ashanti Region Minister, Mr S.K. Boafo. The Regional Minister set up the shooting incident so that the perpetrators of the barbaric act would be brought to book.

Presenting the report, Justice Baffoe Bonnie, Chairman of the four-member Committee who did not give details of the report, recommended that the GFA should deal diligently with complaints of assault on away teams in future. He said if this is done, it would help prevent other clubs from seeking vengeance when certain teams visit their home grounds. Justice Baffoe Bonnie said that the committee was able to identify people they suspect might have been involved in the shooting incident and recommended that the full rigours of the law should be allowed to apply.

It would be recalled that a 30-year old Kotoko fan, Kwame Kusi, was gunned down by trigger-happy assailants, believed to be part of the security forces deployed to the stadium near the Neoplan station in Kumasi a few minutes after the Kotoko-Goldfields premier league encounter at the Kumasi stadium on November 3, 2002. Another fan, Hayford Brenya, a 36-year old trader resident at Bantama, however, escaped death after sustaining gun shot wounds in the left thigh, while another bullet grazed his left wrist, making him bleed profusely from the wounds.

The four-member Committee of Enquiry comprised Justice Baffoe-Bonnie as Chairman, Oheneba Aduse Poku, the Akyempemhene of Kumasi, Professor C.K. Kankam of KNUST and Mr Opoku Nkansah as its secretary. The committee, which commenced work on November 13, 2002, completed its work in three weeks. Receiving the report, the Regional Minister assured that those responsible for the fatal shooting will not be shielded and appealed to the bereaved family to exercise restraint.