Sunday, March 28, 2010

MAMPRUSI, KUSASIS CLASH OVER T-SHIRT (BACK PAGE, MARCH 27, 2010)

A Mamprusi woman who wore a T-shirt regarded as provocative by Kusasis, has triggered clashes between sections of the two ethnic groups at the Cola Market at Asawase in Kumasi.
The clashes appear to be a spillover of the conflict between the two ethnic groups in Bawku in the Upper East Region.
Following the clashes, in which one Mamprusi man was injured on the head, a contingent of the police has been sent to the Zongo area to maintain order to avert further clashes as efforts were being made to reconcile the feuding parties.
A police source which briefed the Daily Graphic refuted an eyewitness account that the combatants used weapons including AK 47 assault rifles.
“So far no evidence suggests that guns were used,” the source said.
The clash was said to have started when some Kusasi men confronted the Mamprusi woman at the market for wearing a T-shirt.
The Kusasis also had a T-shirt which the Mamprusis saw as equally provocative.
Both shirts are worn during the celebrations of their festivals back home.
In the course of the skirmishes, one Mamprusi man was injured and he made a report to the police.
After taking control of the situation, the regional police invited the leadership of the two groups, as well as leaders of the Cola Market and representatives of the Zongo chiefs, to a meeting to ensure peace in the area.
Personnel of National Security also attended the meeting.
At the meeting, the source said, the two groups conceded that the T-shirts brought about the trouble.
The police, therefore, endorsed the agreement between the groups that henceforth no one should wear any of the so-called provocative T-shirts.

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