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Military action in Kumbungu was wicked and extra judiciary-Minority leader

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We know the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to be property-owning party and not property destroying party, minority leaders chides NPP.

The minority leader who is the Member of Parliament (MP), for Tamale South didn’t mince words when he led a fact finding mission to visit the tipper trucks union in Tamale to commensurate with them over the last Saturday’s March 3rd, 2018 burning of their trucks.

The military action, according to the minority was wicked at the highest level and government must prepare for the consequences.

We are not in the banana state where anybody with authority can get up and subject the powerless citizens into inhumane treatment and go score free, minority leader reminded the government.

The minority leader who is also the member of parliament for Tamale south led a five member fact finding mission to the tipper truck union based in Tamale, visited the chief of Kumbungu, chief of Dalun, the Kasuliyili Chief and later to Afa yili where soldiers set ablaze some 14 tipper trucks, an excavator and motors belonging to drivers. Women selling food and assorted drinks were not also left out.

The soldiers according to the drivers scattered all food and took some of their drinks away. We took some of the women to hide in the thick forest to save them from being harassed by the soldiers.

They came with a canoe on top of their vehicles and put it on the white Volta. While some of them were maltreating us, others were on river, a tipper truck mate recounted.

We are profoundly disappointed with the government machinery action at Afayili that led to these burnings.

It was extra judiciary which must be condemned, Mr Iddrisu noted. He added that the military owe tipper trucks owners and drivers explanations.

There was no court order for their action and the Ghana’s constitution has not given anybody be it military or police to go and destroy citizens’ properties without lawful authority, he added.

He alleged that the minority was aware of a government excavator loading tipper trucks in one of the sites and the regional minister who is the chairman of security council cannot exonerate himself from the ‘Operation Vanguard ‘ military action.

We will do everything legally possible to get justice for the victims, he assured.

After listening the chiefs side of the incident, the minority leader came to conclusion that the traditional leaders were not consulted before military action. He urged the youth in the area to exercise patience while they, as their representatives in parliament battled the issue with government.

At Dalun, the Chief told the minority that REGSEC and the assembly asked the sand winners to relocate to different place because where they were operating closer to the river and they complied.

Naa Mahama Hamidu explained that they were given one week and they did relocate to Afayili.

He accused the Northern Regional Engineer of the Ghana Water Company (GWC) and the Regional Minister of being the brains behind these actions.

The Chief maintained that GWC’s claims that sand winners cause the shrinking of the river and the polluting of the water was not true. Before sand winners came it was like this and after they left is still like that, so what are talking about, he quizzed.

Members of the fact finding mission included their leader Haruna Iddrisu, Chairman of NDC minority caucus in parliament Inusah Fuseini, Tamale North MP-Alhassan Suhiyini, Kumbungu MP Ras Mubarak and the Binduri MP-Dr Robert Baba KugNab-Lem and the regional executives of NDC led by chairman Sofo Azoka.

Tipper truck Union request for replacement of the vehicles

The tipper truck Union made passionate appeal to the minority to support the owners of the vehicles.

Secretary of the Union Mr Yahaya Iddrisu told the minority that the union contributes significantly to government revenue and we are the first people to support development of the country, Mr Yahaya said.

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