Speaking on Eyewitness News, the Security Analyst adviced that Ghanaians brace themselves for a lot more of these cases, noting that the situation will get really bad before it gets better.

[contextly_sidebar id=”Sv1xEz5Zrx8LbZxxm2WYNsanxTA5O7vC”]“My point is that many more of this will happen, this is going to get considerably worse before it starts to turn,” he said.
According to him, all these rampant criminal acts can be attributed to the fact that Ghana has not invested enough in her law enforcement sector.

“I have said this the last three years and proven over time that because we have not invested in our law enforcement area, in terms of the manpower, the equipment, and in terms of the fact that we don’t do any crime surveys, that these things will happen and it is coming to pass,” he said.

He also stated that the security system in the country is a sham, pointing to the fact that, the country does not prosecute cases as they are supposed to. He says there aren’t even good enough roads for the police to chase robbers if the need arises.

“We don’t have enough prosecutors, 82 percent of all crimes committed in this country are still under investigation, less than three percent are actually convicted, we have a response time of between 15 to 20minutes, the police are not consulted about the kind of vehicles that are needed for them to be able to chase robbers taking into the consideration the quality of our roads,”he said.

He noted that the situation will only continue to worsen, as long as civilans can get their hands on unregistered weapons, as long as the youthful populations are unemployed and as long as there is a constant expansion of unplanned urban places.

Robbers on rampage

This week has seen a number of robbery incidents in the Accra, one on a Forex Bureaux at Spintex and two daylight robberies in the North Kaneshie area.

Two persons are reported to have sustained gunshot wounds from suspected robbers who appeared to be fleeing a crime scene.

Gunfire was first heard in the area around a Latex Foam showroom at North Kaneshie where the robbers had crashed their vehicle. Two persons have since been arrested in connection with the incident.

Also on Tuesday morning, armed men stormed Royal Motors, an automobile company in Accra, making away with the company’s sales.

Eyewitnesses reported that the robbers trailed a bullion van that had entered the Industrial Area premises of the company to collect the company’s sales made the previous day.

Recent arrests

The Inspector General of Police (IGP), David Asante Appeatu, had earlier announced that the police arrested a group of suspected robbers believed to be behind attacks on about 20 forex bureaux in the Spintex road area in just 2018.

The attacks on these Forex Bureaux were growing number of robberies and high-profile criminal activity in the region.

Mobile money transfer points have also been targeted by robbers in recent times.

‘We’re ready to die’

Despite these attacks, the Director of Operations for the Ghana Police Service, COP George Akufo Dampare has said although his outfit is logistically deficient, they are ready to put their lives on the line to ensure the safety of every Ghanaian.

Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show, Dampare also noted that the support of the citizens will go a long way to help the Police Service combat the increasing rate of crime in the country.

“We want to give them [citizens] the assurance that we will go every length, including losing our lives to make them safe. We understand that we are not there yet, in terms of the full complement of our equipment. We also understand that over the years, government after government has made an attempt to bring us to a particular level in terms of equipment,” he said.

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By: Farida Yusif/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post ‘Robbery cases will get worse before it gets better’- Kwesi Aning appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Speaking on Eyewitness News on Thursday, Dr. Aning said the suspension will serve as a deterrent to the various vigilante groups in the country as well high profile members of political parties who protect some of these violent groups.

[contextly_sidebar id=”Q7gkUNER7IErraqYvseneEWlfHo8jBEO”]“I think this is a useful step. When you have the first gentleman of the land saying I will not tolerate this and people challenge the authority of the president that is unacceptable because the President is no more the leader of a parochial political party, he is a representative of the Republic of Ghana in whom our hopes, dreams and aspirations are vested in. So when people challenge his authority that undermines the sanctity not only of the presidency but of the sovereignty of the republic of Ghana,” he added.

President Akufo-Addo on Thursday suspended the Upper West Regional Minister, Sulemana Alhassan for protecting a group of angry youth believed to be members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), who besieged the Upper West Regional office of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) on Wednesday evening.

A statement from the Presidency said the Deputy Upper West Regional Minister, Amidu Ishaq, will act in the stead of the suspended Minister pending the conclusion of an investigation into the incident, according to a statement from the Presidency.

The statement added that “President Akufo-Addo reiterates his commitment to the application of the laws of the land, which must occur without fear or favour, affection or ill-will and without recourse to the political or ethnic affiliations of any citizen of the land,” the statement added.

Dr. Aning on Eyewitness News further commended the President for the suspension.

“…The reputational damage that the behavior of the invisible forces and delta forces have done taking on iconic names that send signals to rest of the world that they are untouchable has damaged us so much. So this is really very good, it shows a President who has deep respect for the rule of law but even more importantly is willing to put the generality of Ghana’s interest beyond parochial party political issues,” he added.

Background 

Some youth from the Wa East district, numbering about 30, in two pickups and a minibus, stormed the NADMO office at the Upper West Regional Coordinating Council on Wednesday evening. They chased out the Regional NADMO Coordinator, and beat up his aide to pulp who was later hospitalized.

After the police got to the scene of the disturbances and effected the arrest of three persons, Alhassan Sulemana ordered the release of the suspects.

He reportedly told the police that “This is a party matter, I will have a meeting with them and get back to you”.

After that, the attackers walked home freely.

Following the incident, workers of NADMO declared a strike on Thursday, and demanded that until the suspects are arrested, they will not return to work.

They  slammed the Regional Minister, whose duty is to protect citizens as the Regional Chairman of the Security Council, for choosing to shield the attackers.

Five NPP youth arrested for attacking U/West NADMO boss

Meanwhile, the Upper West Regional Police Command has picked up five persons alleged to have masterminded the attack on the Upper West Regional office of the National Disaster Management Organization [NADMO].

The five, according to Citi News sources at the Command, were sent to the police station by the Upper West Regional Minister, Sulemana Alhassan, at about 1:00pm on Thursday, February 1, shortly before his suspension was announced.

Political vigilantism in Upper West

This incident marks the third major disturbance perpetrated by youth aligned to the NPP in Upper West Region in the last few months.

On January 22, some NPP youth in the Wa municipality vandalized the residence of the Municipal Chief Executive of the area, Issahaku Moomin Tahiru.

The rampaging youth also vandalized the family house of the MCE and two other houses belonging to his supporters.

In November 2017, NPP youth in Gwollu, the capital of the Sissala West District stormed the precinct of the Assembly and locked up the District Chief Executive, Mohammed Bakor in his office.

They had accused the DCE of engaging in “divide and rule” tactics, and failing to address their concerns.

After the Wa incident, seven NPP supporters were arrested and charged with rioting, including the Sissala West Constituency Chairman of the NPP.

Sulemana Alhassan defended similar attack on Sissala West DCE

The suspended Minister, who doubles as the Chairman of the Regional Security Council, REGSEC, in October 2017, downplayed a similar incident at the office of the Sissala West District Chief Executive, where rowdy New Patriotic Party youth boldly locked up the office of the public officer.

Speaking on Eyewitness News, Mr. Alhassan, who did not emphatically condemn the action of the youth, described it as a “small hitch between some party youth and the District Chief Executive for Sisala West that led to the youth locking up the office.”

Defending his stance on the matter, the Minister said that “even though [the youth’s storming the office] was not legal, they didn’t cause any damage to any property. They didn’t cause any harm to anybody” he insisted.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post Minister’s suspension will deter vigilante groups –Security analyst appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

According to him, the Police do not need any instructions from the President or the Ministry of Interior to tackle such issues head-on.

The phenomenon of land guards terrorizing residents has worsened in recent times in various areas on the outskirts of Accra, with Kasoa in the Central Region recording more cases.

Police must sit up

Dr. Aning, while speaking at the third event in the Accra Dialogue series on “The Scars of Vigilantism: a legal or political question?” at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration Law Faculty on Wednesday, said Ghana’s ballooning population and unplanned urban growth are a recipe for disaster in the area of security, hence the police must sit up.

[contextly_sidebar id=”9sAwzVtfaJVMDCHwa4F7A3x5EYbCxn81″]“You really don’t need the president to give instructions to the police to crack the whip when people are breaking the laws of the land. You don’t even need the Minister of Interior to charge the police to act this way because that’s what they are there for.  So I’m raising the question – what is holding them back? I don’t have the answer, the police must tell us,” he said.

Ringleader Red Moro

With regards to activities of land guards in Kasoa, Dr. Aning said he had information on the ringleader and has given the police the information but no action has yet been taken.

“…I’ve also challenged the police that in Kasoa, the main land guard boss is a man called Red Moro. Three weeks ago I challenged the IGP to send his men to Kasoa to come to my office so that Red Moro could be arrested. No one has contacted me,” he bemoaned.

Kasoa, 50 other crime hotspots to emerge by 2021 – Aning

“In 4 years’ time, there will be 50 Kasoas in this country. We don’t want to think about the demographics. In 2063, we will be 70 million in this country. It will lead to massive urbanization, unplanned urban spaces, and it will have an impact on law enforcement. We ought to have at least 60,000 police officers now, but we now have 33,000. We don’t have enough. Kasoa is representative of the demographic plus the urban challenge that this country is going to face. It is a transient town, nobody knows anyone, nobody owes anybody allegiance and therefore the murders that we are seeing will escalate by 31st December this year,” Dr. Aning added.

Nine land guards grabbed at Gomoa Fetteh

Nine persons suspected to be gun-wielding land guards were arrested last week at Gomoa Fetteh in the Central Region by the Anti-Land Guards squad from the Police National Headquarters who were deployed to the Kasoa area.

The team, led by Chief Inspector John Danso of the Special Weapons and Tactics Team (SWAT) of the Ghana Police, arrested the suspects at the palace of the Chief of Gomoa Fetteh.

Already, the Greater Accra Regional Police Command has arrested some 50 land guards, some of whom have been processed for court.

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By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post Police slacking in fight against land guards – Dr. Aning appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.