Police boss bemoans interference - In police work
The Upper West Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP), Mr Kofi Danso Adei Acheampong, has expressed serious concern about the incessant interference in the work of the police.
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He said the practice where influential people in society interfered with the work of the police and other law enforcement agencies was so common in the Upper West Region that it made the work of the police very difficult and cumbersome.
He was addressing the first security and fire safety training organised by Security Warehouse Limited in Wa in the Upper West Region for various security and transport organisations in the region.
Mr Acheampong said the continued interference was rather helping criminals to perpetrate their vices.
"Stop interfering with the work of the police because you are helping the criminals," he stressed.
Making specific reference to an old practice which has crept into every facet of the lives of the people of the region, Mr Acheampong said the days of "Tijaa bunyeni" to wit "We are all one", must be stopped.
He said because of that practice the police were always inundated with supposed influential people in society who paraded their corridors with the aim of working out the release of suspects.
That, he said, made it very difficult for the police to get witnesses during prosecution.
Mr Acheampong said as of last year, 1,434 cases had not been prosecuted due to the inability of the police to get witnesses.
He said 87 of the cases were recorded in year 2011 but that increased to 145 in 2012.
Out of these, Mr Acheampong said 112 cases were sent to court last year out of which 101 suspects were fined a total of GH¢22,248.
He reminded residents that although the crime statistics in the region seemed very low, it was because many of the cases, especially crimes related to defilement and rape, were not reported.
He, therefore, advised the people to take responsibility for their personal security while the police and the other security agencies do their best to complement that effort.
"The police strength of 669 made up of 25 investigators to a total population of 668,101 was not good enough to protect lives and property throughout the region," he said.
The regional commander of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), ACFO Kwaku Manu Afful, mentioned the causes of fire and said the total number of fire recorded in the region increased from 159 in 2011 to 195 last year.
He advised the people to stop burning bushes and be conversant with issues of fire.
For his part, the Chief Executive Officer of Security Warehouse Limited, Mr Adam Bonaa, urged Ghanaians to inculcate the habit of acquiring security gadgets to protect their offices, houses and cars.
Story by Chris Nunoo
