The Eastern Regional Security Council (REGSEC) has issued a stern warning to residents of Nsawam Adoagyiri and surrounding areas to fully adhere to the Public Order Act or face legal consequences.
This caution comes in the wake of a shooting incident in August in Nsawam Adoagyiri that resulted in the deaths of three individuals and the hospitalization of five others.
Seth Kwame Acheampong, the Eastern Regional Minister and Chairman of REGSEC, made this statement after visiting the families affected by the tragedy.
Mr Acheampong stressed that residents must contact the Ghana Police Service (GPS) before organizing any special events.
“We are enforcing the public order act and we are asking the people within this municipality to respect the public order act in particular in taking steps in respect of subsections 1 to 5,” Acheampong said.
“We are saying that each and every person that decides to hold a special event must get in touch with the appropriate state institution which is the Ghana Police Service and give them notice as the law stipulates. We expect all and sundry to abide by these enactments. We expect every person to abide by these rules.”
Acheampong also noted that no arrests had been made yet in connection with the incident that led to the loss of three lives.
Additionally, Frank Annoh Dompreh, the Member of Parliament for the area, called on all parties involved to maintain calm and work towards peace in the region.
He emphasized the importance of addressing the underlying causes of the disturbance and encouraged residents and youth to exercise restraint even in cases of extreme provocation.
“We should give peace a chance. But ordinarily, my people are peaceful. There was a cause to it and we must all be seen to be addressing that. I am happy that the regional minister has taken the matter up. The signals were on the wall so we shouldn’t take things for granted. We should just beef up security and I am sure we will come on top of the situation,” Dompreh said.
“I am a very sad man because we are beginning to get development projects that we have never experienced in many years and all of a sudden this came in. But I am sure we will deal with it. The feedback is very encouraging. So we will continuously appeal to residents and the youth that in the case of extreme provocation they should still exercise restraint.”