Need For The Police To Be Proactive 

NEWS COMMENTARY ON THE NEED FOR THE POLICE TO BE PROACTIVE IN AVERTING CRIME AND VIOLENCE IN THE COUNTRY 

The police administration, national security, the military, the National Chief Imam, the Chairman of the National  Peace Council and the others deserve a great deal of commendation for their swift action in curbing what could have been a full blown war between some muslim youth and natives of Tafo in the Ashanti region. Though one person lost his life and several others sustained injuries, the situation could have been worse but for their intervention. Having said that, the incident, was unfortunate and should not have occurred in the first place. The loss of life, the destruction to property, the vandalisation of the mosque, church and bank buildings are regrettable. At this critical period of our life as a nation, when we are just a few months away from crucial general elections, we do not expect anything to disturb the peace in any part of the country. Kumasi, and for that matter, the Ashanti Region is a political hot bed and we need absolute peace and tranquility over there.  For now, we can heave a sigh of relief that calm has been restored in a relatively short period, even though an 8pm to 4am curfew is still in force. The curfew should remain in force until absolute peace is restored. The arrest of 40 youth who were involved in the violence was in the right direction. One is not too sure the status of those 40 youth, whiles one report said they have been unconditionally released; another said they are on bail. In any case, what many Ghanaians are concerned about is finding a lasting solution to the problem. It is the hope of all that the parties in the conflict would avail themselves of the opportunity to settle the matter amicably.  

The eruption of violence brought to the fore, the need for our security agencies to up their game when it comes to intelligence gathering. According to one retired military officer, the situation could have been averted if the security system in the Ashanti region had taken action on intelligence report on the Tafo Cemetery. According to him, security officials had prior intelligence about the Tafo clashes before the skirmishes broke out. This is more so because, the disagreement between the muslim youth and the natives over the boundary of the muslim cemetery has lingered on for quite some time and the police in Ashanti cannot claim not to know about it. Talking about intelligence gathering, this must be extended to the fight against all forms of crime. In this era, when armed robbery, petty thievery, car snatching and the rest are rearing their ugly head, the police certainly have a lot to do. 

Yes, so far, they have done well in apprehending the perpetrators of some of the recent crimes. But the focus must be on preventing the crime from taking place in the first place. There is the need for proactive policing, where the police place themselves ahead of the criminals. Prevention, they say, is better than cure. Of course, a life lost cannot be replaced even when the culprit is arrested and made to face the full rigours of the law.  Most of the people who end up being attacked and killed are said to have received threats from their assailants on their phones long before they are attacked physically. From now on everyone must be encouraged to report these threats to the police at all times. Apart from this, the police and the security system must map out all security flash points in the country. In addition to that, we need to deploy Intelligence personnel to gather information regularly on what happens around the country especially in the identified flash points. The law enforcement agencies must also devote a special attention to social media, where people hide under ghost identities to foment trouble and cause chaos. Even though, Ghana continues to be touted as an oasis of peace, we cannot be complacent. Let everyone give a helping hand to the police and the other agencies, so that together, we can maintain and sustain the peace in Ghana.

BY: ALHAJI ABDULAI ALHASSAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, EANFOWORLD FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT.