The Minister for Communications, Dr. Edward Kofi Omane Baomah has subtly ridiculed media reports that his so-called official bodyguard, has defiled an unnamed 12-year-old minor, resulting in a pregnancy.
On his facebook wall yesterday, Dr Omane Boamah wrote, “Good morning fellow countrywomen/men in search of Bodyguard-Applications are welcome,” suggesting he has no bodyguard.
Also, in a WhatsApp message to Joy News, Dr. Omane Boamah said, “I don’t have a bodyguard. The guy is one of the police officers who guards bungalows on rotational basis”.
Reports by Accra-based StarrFM, had said that the Police officer, Lance Corporal Emmanuel Bartels, alleged to have strong family ties with the popular Bartels family, impregnated the minor some seven months ago, but have refused responsibility.
The story, had alleged that the accused defiled his victim three times, but efforts by the victim’s family to get the Ghana Police Service to punish the erring officer, have been disregarded, a source familiar with the development intimated to StarrFMonline.com.
Bartels, who per his profession, is supposed to maintain law and order, fearing and respecting no one is said to have slept with his victim in her father’s room.
But in a sharp rebuttal, the Minister, has denied the reports linking him to the officer, insisting he does not have a personal bodyguard.
In what looked like one making a joke out of an obvious gaffe, Dr. Omane Boamah, invited all willing and able young men and women to make their applications available as he would be recruiting a bodyguard soon.
According to this paper’s sources, the medical doctor turned politician, does not have a personal body, except officers who are sent to his house on rotational bases to guard his house.
These officers this paper has gathered, are changed almost every day and so he does not have a permanent officer based in house. Indeed, sources say he does not even have a driver, as he drives himself.
In an interview with Joy News, the victim said, Lance Corporal Bartels, was a tenant in her father’s house.
The Junior High School (JHS) form one student said, every time her father left for work, the police officer would force himself on her, ignoring her plea for him to stop. According to her, due to the fear of being beaten, she could not mention the incident to her father.
The victim’s father, became suspicious after he noticed some changes in his daughter. He took her to the hospital and test run on her, confirmed she was pregnant. The case was reported to the police, but the officer was not arrested.
Later on, when the case was reported to the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) , the police officer was invited for questioning, but he denied the allegations.
DOVVSU, also asked the victim to undergo age assessment test, because she looked older than her age. When the test was conducted, a report was issued with DOVVSU claiming the girl may be 17-years-old.
But the victim said, her father is gathering her birth certificate and other school documents to prove that she is indeed 12.
<<Print>>