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Crime rate down; But level unacceptable

Statistics available indicate that the crime rate, in respect of armed robbery, has declined, the Minister of the Interior, Mr Mark Woyongo, has said.

“The trend, notwithstanding the decline, is still at an unacceptable level, as it poses a risk to foreign direct investments (FDIs), as well as tourism and the general security of the public,” he said.

Mr Woyongo was opening the mid-year performance review workshop of the Interior Ministry, at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre in Accra on Tuesday.

The two-day review meeting was on the theme, “Promoting organisational efficiency and effectiveness towards improved sector performance”.

Objectives

Heads of agencies under the Ministry of the Interior are taking part in the meeting, which aims at coming up with strategies on how to bring the crime rate under control and also get the necessary resources from the government to undertake their operations.

The identified variances during the review session will help make strategic projections on the way forward. 

Additionally, the critical evaluation process will help the agencies under the ministry to improve upon areas where positive performances have been recorded.

Public safety

Mr Woyongo said the government took very seriously issues of public safety regarding its citizens, residents, as well as property.

“There is now a major paradigm shift regarding the concept of security in terms of human security. After all, peace, safety, security and stability are prerequisites for the development of all sectors of the nation and for accelerated socio-economic development,” he said.

He, therefore, charged heads of the various sectors to remain focused to ensure that issues of public safety were attended to with the seriousness they deserved.

The minister said although the budgetary allocation to the Interior Ministry had, over the years, not been adequate, the government had taken steps to make significant improvements towards the provision of logistics and equipment for the Ghana Police Service and the Ghana National Fire Service.

Mr Woyongo promised that the ministry would do everything possible to ensure that Ghana remained the preferred country to visit and transact business.

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