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05.07.2005 General News

KATH Doctors Praised

05.07.2005 LISTEN
By GNA

Obuasi (Ash), July 5, GNA - The Assemblyman for Sansu Electoral Area of Obuasi, Mr Benjamin Annan has expressed the "heartfelt gratitude of the people of Sansu to the two Surgeons of Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi, for their patriotism and sense of duty".

In a statement issued in Obuasi on Tuesday, Mr Annan said the singular act of Dr Oheneba Owusu-Danso and Dr K. Turkson, both Surgeons at KATH, in coming out with the truth about the shooting of Mr Awudu Mohammed, a small-scale miner of Sansu, had shown that there were honest men in Ghana.

The statement said: "The people of Sansu are happy that it has been established that Awudu Mohammed, the Galamsey suspect received the injuries from gunshot and not from spikes.

"The fact that AngloGold Ashanti and the Police in Obuasi teamed up to lie about what really happened confirms our long time suspicion of complicity between AngloGold Ashanti and the Obuasi Police Command in covering up criminal acts of the Company."

The Assemblyman said: "In the case of the shooting of Awudu Mohammed, it took the commitment, honesty and professionalism of the Medical Officers in Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital and the Media to expose the lies of AngloGold Ashanti and Obuasi Police.

"AngloGold Ashanti always puts up stories to cover up the atrocities it perpetrates against the people of Sanso. The motive of AngloGold Ashanti is to create the impression in the eyes of the public that Sanso people are a group of bandits.

"AngloGold does this intentionally to justify and cover up human rights abuses in Sanso," the statement said.

AngloGold Ashanti and Obuasi Police lied to Ghanaians when they told the Ghana News Agency that spikes on top of a gate on the premises of the Obuasi Mines pierced Mr Mohammed when they knew that he was shot. While AngloGold Ashanti lied in a statement they issued to the Ghana News Agency, Chief Superintendent Kwabena Akuoko Oduro, Obuasi Police Divisional Commander, lied in an interview with GNA.

Dr Owusu-Danso, Senior Medical Officer at the Department of Surgery, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) told the GNA that Mr Mohammed was shot.

He said Mr Mohammed presented deep penetrating injury of the abdomen with his intestine almost completely extruded, which must have been caused by a bullet.

Colonel Steve Oduro-Kwarteng (rtd), Head of Special Services Department of AngloGold Ashanti, signed the AngloGold statement on Thursday.

The statement claimed Mr Mohammed "in attempt to climb over the metal gate was wounded in the tummy by the spikes on top of the metal gate. He fell outside the gate and could not move again. It was then observed that part of his intestines had gushed out".

Chief Superintendent Oduro corroborated the AngloGold Ashanti's lie, when he spoke to the GNA in a telephone interview.

The GNA had reported on Wednesday that AngloGold Ashanti Security on Tuesday June 21 carried out its threat to shoot small-scale gold miners on sight and shot Mr Mohammed, who had entered the Company's concession in Obuasi. 05 July 05

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