Citizens of Doryumu in the Dangme West District of the Greater-Accra Region have expressed their anger at the police for stopping them from holding a meeting to discuss the development of the town.

During a meeting at Doryumu attended by some elders of the town, the youth and concerned citizens, the Chief Linguist, Okyeame Dorh Kwasi the second, disclosed that the “Doryumu Howe Youth Association” was mandated by the elders of the town to write a letter to all clan heads for a meeting which should have taken place on June 1, this year.

Okyeame Kwasi said the letter which was copied to the Acting President of the Shai Traditional Council, the Member of Parliament for the area, the District Chief Executive, and the police, among others, was to discuss the development of the area.

According to the chief linguist, since the death of Nene Lanimor Opata II about 14 years ago, it has not been possible to install a successor due to protracted chieftaincy disputes.

This he said, has led to the exploitation of the resources of the area, especially a stone quarry, and the sale of lands by some people for their selfish ends, to the disadvantage of the development of Doryumu.

However, according to Okyeame Kwasi, the Station Officer of the Ghana Police Service in the area allegedly informed them verbally that he had instructions from his district commander that the planned meeting should not take place due to security reasons, citing the Public Order Act to support the order.

He said when the youth heard the news that the meeting had been stopped by the police, they were very angry but they were advised to exercise restraint.

However, when contacted on phone by the Ghana News Agency (GNA), the Station Officer, Inspector Ntouson confirmed that the police stopped the meeting and requested that it should be put on hold because there were a lot of security issues in the town.

According to Inspector Ntouson, when he received a copy of the letter and informed his district commander, he instructed that due to the volatile security issues in the town, the people should write another letter giving the police at least five days notice in order to prepare adequately to contain any eventuality.

Speaking to the GNA, a royal of the town, Mr Tei Djangmah, said it was the view of organizers of the planned meeting that the resources of Doryumu should be prudently managed to ensure its development to complement government efforts at helping to develop the area.

Mr Djangmah made a passionate appeal to all the stakeholders involved in the long-standing chieftaincy disputes in the town which had seen numerous court actions, to ponder soberly about the development of the town and give peace a chance.