The famous Ashanti Regional Police Commander, DCOP Kofi Boakye has restated his commitment to flush out armed robbers who have been terrorizing residents of the region, saying that the robbers are “scattered and uneducated,” and can easily be defeated.
He said: “We are more than the armed robbers; we are far more than them so how do we allow them to defeat us? They are not rebel groups; just scattered, uneducated armed robbers who are not even knowledgeable in what they do.”
[contextly_sidebar id=”BodEaXL0Q8ayBiDMD0kN5FLBQDPuvKnC”]DCOP Boakye was certain that the war against armed robbery can be won because Ghanaians outnumber the perpetrators of the crime who employ amateurish techniques in carrying out their criminal deeds.
“Why don’t we come together because if you leave it to the Police alone, based on man power constraints, logistics constraints, bad roads, unidentified buildings and all these combined makes it quite challenging to fight,” he asked.
Public Trust
The Ashanti Regional Police Commander since his transfer to the region some months ago has chalked some major successes such as arresting the most notorious armed robber in the region who had been terrorizing residents.
In an interview on Accra based Joy FM, DCOP Boakye said he has received tremendous support from residents and leaders in the region following the efficiency with which his men carry out their duties.
According to him, he has been able to open up Police stations in almost every community in the Ashanti Region and provide them with the needed logistics with support from the residents.
“All boils down to the trust that people have in you,” he said, adding that “the trust will come based on the competency that the people will see the Police exhibiting and also if they see the Police going by their core mandate of preventing crime and even if the crime happens, they have the trust that the Police will arrest the people.”
Secured Police Stations
DCOP Kofi Boakye also mentioned that beefing up security at the various Police Stations will instill fear in criminals and help reduce crime.
He was of the view that if Police Stations are “like market places where any Tom, Dick and Harry can just pass through, then it makes it quite problematic. If you can’t protect yourself, how do you protect other people?”
Corruption in Police Service
Responding to the recent Afrobarometer report which ranked the Ghana Police Service as the most corrupt public institution in Ghana, the Ashanti Regional Police Commander blatantly disagreed with the findings.
“I will not fault them but I don’t agree with them. How much do Policemen collect on the road in a day and how much do white collar crimes collect? So are they talking about the frequency of collection, the interaction with people or the quantum?” he queried.
He warned that simplifying corruption in terms of money collection is flawed because there are bigger issues that “collecting bribes so Afrobarometer should look again.”
“We shouldn’t simplify corruption into only people taking 10 percent of contract fees and policemen collecting money.”
He however admitted that sometimes, the Police administration is embarrassed by the behaviour of some its personnel on the road.
Corruption is cultural
DCOP Kofi Boakye said corruption in Ghana is cultural, adding that there are various forms of corruption including, nepotism, influence peddling, patronage, favouritism and old boyism.
“They are all corruption because within the sentiments of gratitude and reciprocity lies the seed of corruption.”
“It’s part of our culture so we have to fight the culture…they are things that we’ve done over the years which have really encouraged corruptible acts,” he remarked.
By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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