Continuous curfew on Tafo illegal - Lawyer

A private legal practitioner, Dennis Adjei Dumoh has expressed concern about the continuous imposition of a curfew on the Tafo Township in the Ashanti Region, saying it is against the country’s laws. Last month, the Ashanti Regional Security Council (REGSEC) placed a curfew on the Tafo township following clashes between the Muslims and the locals backed by the traditional authorities over a piece of cemetery land.
One Muslim died and several others sustained injuries after violent clashes between the two. The curfew has since been eased, but some political and traditional leaders have called on the Interior Ministry to lift the curfew entirely because total calm has returned to the town.

Dennis Adjei Dumoh said the handling of the curfew run counter to the Public Order Act of Ghana and thus urged the Interior Minister to reconsider it. According to Lawyer Dumoh, the law prescribes how the Interior Minister is supposed to impose a curfew. He also noted that the length of the curfew which has exceeded 30 days is illegal because a curfew cannot be imposed for more than seven days.

 “The law further goes ahead to say that no person can impose a curfew on the whole of Ghana and secondly if you impose a curfew, you cannot impose it for more than seven days at a go.” Lawyer Dumoh also questioned why the curfew was imposed by REGSEC, something he explained is not in accordance with the law.

 “The curfew was imposed by REGSEC. The law on imposition does not give the power to impose a curfew by REGSEC. It lies in the minister… the authority that can impose a curfew is the minister of interior.”