Manso Nkwanta shooting: Compensation disbursement unfair – MP

Families of the victims receive cheques from government[/caption] The Member of Parliament (MP) for the Krachi West Constituency, Helen Ntoso, has observed it is unfair the way the government disbursed a sum of GH₵1.75 million compensation to families of Seven Asawase youth who lost their lives in the Manso Nkwanta shooting incident last year. The seven, who were mistaken for armed robbers by the police, were gunned down in a tragic incident which has come to be widely regarded as the Manso Nkwanta shooting or the Asawase 7. Subsequently,  government announced a GH₵1.75 million compensation for the affected families after findings of a seven-member committee established the deceased were not armed robbers as was originally claimed by the police. The government Thursday, through the Minister for Inner City and Zongo Development, Dr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, presented to each family a cheque of GH₵250,000 as a compensation package. But the Krachi West MP, though commends the gesture of the government, raises some reservations about how the government went about it. Speaking on TV3’s International Women’s Day edition of New Day, Madam Helena said the government ought to have disbursed the money equitably, not equally. “We’ve got to give praise to who praise is due, I am happy that government has done that, but I have a problem with the way the money is disbursed”, she said. “You look at the household head and the number of dependents, you don’t give a household head that has six dependents GH₵250, 000 as compared to someone who has only one dependent”, she explained. According to her, she has heard complaints from one of the families that they have more dependents than another family yet received the same amount. “So the distribution is not fair”, she reiterated. Meanwhile, Deputy Communications Director of the  New Patriotic Party, Joyce Zempare, said even though the compensation may not be able to replace the lives lost, it is the hope of the government that it will appease the families while justice is sought for the victims. By 3news.com / Ghana]]>