Deputy Ashanti Regional Police Commander, DCOP David Agyemang Adjem, has admitted that the Police deployed to Ejura to control the street protest was without key riot control gear, such as tear gas and shield, making them insufficiently prepared for the violence that erupted there.
The ill-preparedness, he explained, was partly due to what he referred to as ‘an erroneous assumption’ or underestimation of the reality before deployment of Personnel and Logistics.
This, DCOP Agyemang Adjem said, informed the decision to invite the Military to support the Police Team to restore order at Ejura on the 29th of June.
The Deputy Regional Police Commander was answering questions from the Committee of Enquiry into the Ejura Disturbances.
The 4th Witness for the day, the Municipal Police Commander, DSP Philip Hammond, noted that his deployment of Police Riot Control Team to the cemetery during the burial of the late Kaaka was at the request of the bereaved family for protection.
The Middle Belt Bureau Chief of Citi FM and TV, Edward Oppong Marfo, appearing as the 5th Witness, told the Committee that his Crew was covering Kaaka’s burial when some of the mourners wielding items such as stones and clubs chased away the Police Riot Control Team and later learnt of the violence and shooting in the township with resulting deaths.