Ashanti Regional Minister, Simon Osei Mensah, has disclosed that last Tuesday’s attack on the Regional Security Coordinator, Kwaku Ayesu Opare-Addo, from office was because he failed to act on a notice asking him to leave office.
It is not clear where the said notice emanated from, however, the Minister told Accra-based Okay FM on Tuesday, May 18, 2021, that he received the same letter stating that a new Regional Security Coordinator had been appointed.
According to the Minister, although he spoke to DCOP Opare-Addo (rtd) about the notice to leave office, he insisted that he has been asked by President Nana Akufo-Addo to continue with his work.
The attempted forceful removal and attack on the Ashanti Region Security Coordinator on Tuesday, May 11, by persons believed to be affiliated to the notorious vigilante group, Delta Force, has revived calls for Ghana’s National Security structure to be reformed.
DCOP Opare-Addo (rtd) said he was manhandled by the pro-New Patriotic Party (NPP) thugs and handcuffed at some point.Â
He told current affairs programme, PM Express, that he still feels pain in his right leg as a result of the attack on him on Tuesday.
READ ALSO:Â Prof Anning urges military action against Delta Force
The former Ashanti Region Police Commander told the media that the armed NPP-affiliates said there were acting on the orders of the National Security Coordinator.
Reacting to the matter that has dominated media discussions since yesterday, the Ashanti Regional Minister said the retired former police commissioner can proceed to the courts to seek redress.
DCOP Opare-Addo has already said he will seek legal redress for the attack and the abuse of his human rights.
Police are investigating the matter but the Delta Force members who attacked the Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator are roaming free after making bail.
Meanwhile, security expert, Prof Kwesi Anning, has said last week's attack on the Ashanti Region Security Coordinator by members of Delta Force, thought to have been disbanded calls for military intervention.
The Director at the Faculty of Academic Affairs and Research at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) said the attack on DCOP Ayensu Opare Addo (rtd) represents an affront to the Executive powers of Nana Akufo-Addo and must not be handled by the police.
“When you defy the orders of a President, routinely, those who defy that must be punished and resisted, not by the police force but by the armed forces. Precisely because by defying a Presidential Commission or appointee, you challenge the authority of the Commander-in-Chief and we can’t and we mustn’t have that. This is dangerous and is getting out of hand,†Prof Anning said.
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