Alleged Killer Arrested Under Minister's Bed

The suspected killer of an evangelist at Sankore in the Asunafo South constituency of the Brong Ahafo Region was last Friday August 28, arrested from under the bed of a deputy minister at Sakumono near Tema. The suspect, Kwasi Adu and two others, Baba Iddrisu and Kwabena Noah, now at large, supporters of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), went on rampage in the town recently and allegedly attacked New Patriotic Party (NPP) sympathizers. The arrest of the suspected killer in the bedroom of the deputy minister exposed Eric Opoku as a liar because just last Thursday, he denied on Peace FM that he had something to do with the alleged killers, pointing out that if the boys were paraded, he would not be able to identify them. Just after the deputy minister's utterances, word reached Sankore that Kwasi was living in Eric Opoku's MP flat in Sakumono. During the rampage, the NDC goons, with impunity, shot 40-year-old Kwame Nyame, a farmer and an evangelist, on July 19, 2009 and fled Sankore after the shooting. The deceased passed away after a fortnight of hospitalization under intensive care at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi, where he had been referred to. Having fled the town following their unruly conduct, word reached some youth in the town that Kwasi Adu, the man who allegedly fired the fatal shot, was hiding in the house of the Deputy Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Eric Opoku, one-time MP for the electoral area who lost in the 2008 polls and was subsequently rewarded with a ministerial appointment. Even though he lost his parliamentary scat, Eric Opoku is still being accommodated at the MPs' flat on Block C3, where the 'killer' was being sheltered after escaping arrest. Last Thursday, the pursuers of the suspected murderer had a tip off that Kwasi Adu was sighted in the deputy regional minister's house. They therefore picked the next available vehicle from Sankore, arriving in Accra on Friday. At about 8:00pm, they arrived at the Sakumono Police Station where they narrated their mission and were given two detectives for the arrest of the fugitive. At 9:00pm, they landed at the Block C3 to ferret out the suspected killers. Upon arriving at the location, they knocked on the door of the apartment and mentioned the name of Kwasi Adu, immediately attracting the response of the deputy minister's driver and police bodyguard who secured the door from the "intruders". Unfortunately for the suspect's protectors, his pursuers had spotted him already but he was whisked to the bedroom where he hid under the bed. The detectives did not find their mission easy as the police bodyguard of the minister and driver insisted that since their boss was not available, they could not allow the suspect out of the place. With the bodyguard and driver unwilling to budge, the detectives called for reinforcement and a patrol team from Tema arrived at the scene and cordoned off the place to prevent him from escaping through the back window. The next trick thrown in by the suspect's protectors was to put out the lights in the apartment but the fact that the surrounding flats had lights did not convince the detectives that there was light off in the area. They claimed that their pre-paid electricity fee had been exhausted but the detectives parried the excuse, explaining that they had torch lights. Having come this far in the pursuit of the suspect, the men were prepared to pass the night if that could enable them achieve their objective of arresting the man who allegedly killed Kwame Nyame, whose body is still in the morgue at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital. With enough men to undertake the operation, the cops moved into the house and searched from room to room until Kwesi Adu was 'discovered' hiding under a bed and he was pulled out. Suspect Kwasi Adu's next destination was the Sakumono Police Station where he spent two nights and was subsequently transferred to the Brong Ahafo Regional Police Command, in Sunyani Sunday. It will be recalled that media reports from Kumasi that on July 19, 2009, the Asunafo constituency in Sankore was a scene of a fiery action as youth of the NDC, armed with an assortment of weapons including firearms, in broad daylight opened fire and attacked NPP sympathizers. Kwame Nyame, an evangelist of the Deeper Life Christian Ministry who was returning from church, was shot in the waist at close range, allegedly by Kwasi Adu, in front of the chief's palace, after a preliminary beating. The evangelist was also reportedly hit with the butt of a gun. Kwame Nyame was earlier admitted at the Goaso Government Hospital, and then transferred to the Sunyani Government Hospital and finally to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital. The commotion started on July 18, a Saturday, during the funeral rites of the wife of the driver of the chief of the town, Nana Okogyeadie Yaw Adusei III. The NPP sympathizers who partook in the funeral were gathered in front of a drinking spot when they were attacked by their NDC counterparts. They ran into the palace as the NDC youth, some of them wearing T-Shirts bearing the picture and name of Eric Opoku, chased them, firing shots. The deceased was dealt the fatal blow even before the chief could come out to rescue him from the hands of his aggressors. Kwame Nyame, not a known party activist, is a relation of George Boakye, the man who ousted Eric Opoku as MP. The vulcanizing shop of a brother of the deceased was said to have been vandalized by the rampaging NDC thugs as well. The remains of the deceased have been deposited at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital mortuary as the family work on funeral and burial arrangements. A brother of the deceased, Kofi Tawiah, lamented that the family spent over GH�1000 treating the deceased, his National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) notwithstanding.