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Police Service slapped with ¢320k fine for officers negligence in shooting 3
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The officers who were pursuing goat thieves from Twifo Praso fired into the thieves’ car. A stray bullet hit a moving taxi occupied by a couple and their daughter in the process.
The bullet hit and killed Josephine Owusuaa Aboagye, injured her husband, Aboagye Okyere, and a student on her way to school.
According to the plaintiffs, on January 10, 2019, at about 6:30 am, they were on board a taxi cab from Ankaful Junction in Cape Coast when they were shot at by the cops who said they were chasing robbers from Twifo Praso.
The bullet fired by the police strayed and hit Mary Aboagye who later died at the hospital, hit her husband, and hit one Cecilia Mensah, who was on her way to school.
Some bystanders rescued the victims and sent them to the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital where Mary Aboagye was pronounced dead. The other two victims, Cecilia Mensah and her father sustained varying degrees of injuries as a result of the bullet they received.
The defendants, the Ghana Police Service told the court it deployed five policemen from various police stations in the Central Region for police patrol duty at Darmang near Twifo Praso. Whilst on patrols, they had information that there was a BMW saloon car with four occupants suspected to be driving recklessly.
A few minutes later, the said BMW car approached the patrol team. The team signalled the driver to stop. However, he ignored the signals and sped off, nearly knocking down the policemen.
The team noticed that the passenger on the front seat was holding an AK 47 riffle. Accordingly, they notified all the police barriers from Twifo Praso to Cape Coast and proceeded to chase the said BMW car.
On the outskirts of Jukwa Senior High School, the suspected robbers then began firing at the police patrol vehicle with AK 47 rifle leaving the police no choice but to return fire.
A search conducted in the car revealed six live goats, one live sheep and five dead goats. They arrested the suspected robbers and sent them with the animals found in the car to the regional headquarters in Cape Coast where they made a situational report to their officers.
Justice Kwasi Boakye explained that the judgment was not meant to intimidate and lower the morale of the crime-fighting institutions such as the Police.
He urged the Inspector General of the Ghana Police Service (IGP) to take proactive steps to ‘Damparise’ the Service.
He noted that there was a dire need to undertake a complete overhaul or re-engineer the service as far as its professional training needs and competence are concerned. He made reference to a similar incident where some armed policemen in broad day, shot into an unregistered saloon car at Tamale, resulting in the death of one [1] of the occupants whereas the others sustained various degrees of injuries.
He consequently awarded the 1st plaintiff, the sum of One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Ghana Cedis (GHC150,000.00) lump sum as compensation and ordered the defendants to pay same having considered the following heads: future loss of earnings, nursing attendants, loss of amenities, loss of expectation of life and disability.
For Cecilia Mensah, the 3rd plaintiff, a student of the Academy of Christ The King SHS, the judge assessed compensation payable at ¢60,000 and ordered the defendants to pay same.
He also further awarded a lump sum payment of ¢100,000 to the estates of the deceased because her family member, Josephine Okyere, sued as a dependent of Mary Aboagye.
Source: www.myjoyonline.com
African leaders have been urged to strengthen political commitment and domestic investment to end preventable maternal deaths and AIDS by 2030.
The call comes as African health ministers and policymakers meet in Accra to deliberate on health financing, health security and universal health coverage across the continent.
Mr Edouard Bizimana, Burundi’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and Development Cooperation, made the call on Tuesday at the opening of the African Union’s (AU) 25th Extraordinary Summit on Health in Accra.
He said Africa needed increased domestic investment to build resilient health systems as it continued to grapple with infectious diseases and the growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
Mr Bizimana, who is also Chairperson of the AU Executive Council, said although Africa accounted for nearly 17 per cent of the world’s population, it bore 24 per cent of the global disease burden while having less than three per cent of the global health workforce and only one per cent of global health expenditure.
“Despite maternal mortality declining by nearly 40 per cent since 2000, Africa still accounts for about 70 per cent of maternal deaths globally, while almost two-thirds of people living with HIV reside on the continent,” he said.
Mr Bizimana said the growing burden of NCDs was placing additional pressure on already stretched health systems.
“These figures are not merely statistics. They represent painful human realities, preventable losses and unacceptable inequalities, they remind us that health is not an expense it is a strategic investment and a prerequisite for our sovereignty and development. “he said.
Mr Bizimana said recent global health emergencies had exposed Africa’s vulnerability and underscored the need to expand local production of medicines and vaccines, strengthen the health workforce and improve emergency preparedness.
“Our citizens expect resilient health systems where every mother can give birth safely, every child has access to essential healthcare and every African enjoys quality health services regardless of where they live,” he said.
The two-day summit, being held ahead of the 20th Extraordinary Session of the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government, has brought together health ministers, policymakers and health stakeholders to identify solutions to Africa’s health financing and security challenges.
Madam Florence Samizi, Tanzania’s Deputy Health Minister, called for stronger collaboration among AU Member States to accelerate progress towards universal health coverage.
The summit is being held on the theme: “Advancing Justice, Equality and Universal Health Coverage: Ending AIDS, Tuberculosis, Improving Maternal Health, Addressing Endemic Non-Communicable and Neglected Tropical Diseases in Africa.”
The meeting is expected to adopt the Accra Declaration, a roadmap to strengthen Africa’s health systems and advance health sovereignty by 2030. -GNA
Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana’s Department of Political Science, Dr. Joshua Jebuntie Zaato says the imprisonment of the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, will have little meaning unless it leads to a broader crackdown on illegal mining.
In a post on his Facebook page on the July 21, 2026, Dr. Zaato said the judgment should mark the beginning of efforts to completely eradicate galamsey and hold all those involved accountable, regardless of their political affiliation.
He said the country must work towards restoring polluted rivers, protecting forests and ensuring that people implicated in illegal mining activities are prosecuted.
According to him, those the President has publicly acknowledged to be involved in galamsey should face prosecution.
He called for the prosecution of district chief executives (DCEs), members of Parliament (MPs) and senior political party officials who have been accused of engaging in or supporting illegal mining.
Dr. Zaato further urged the government to take decisive action to end the destruction of the country’s forests caused by galamsey.
He maintained that the imprisonment of Chairman Wontumi would only have a lasting impact if it results in a comprehensive and impartial fight against illegal mining across the country.
By: Jacob Aggrey
