Minority legislators have asked President Akufo-Addo to remove the Inspector General of Police (IGP), David Asante-Apeatu, from office following the wave of robbery attacks sweeping through the capital.
Minority Chief Whip, Ahmed Ibrahim, suggests the IGP is to blame for the seeming confidence of the robbers, and the lawlessness that seems to be gripping the country.
Reports of robberies in Accra and Tema in the Greater Accra Region have generated public debate about the ability of police to protect lives and properties.
On Wednesday a Lebanese man was shot dead shortly after he went to withdraw cash from the bank at the Tema Industrial Area.
The gun-wielding armed robbers trailed the man popularly known as Alhaji after he left the bank at about 11:30 am in his Toyota Corolla vehicle. They reportedly took away GHS 200,000.
On Tuesday, armed robbers stormed Royal Motors, an automobile company in Accra, and made away with the company's sales in a stunning daylight robbery.
Also, the Ghana Association of Forex Bureaux says its members are living in constant fear following incessant armed robbery attacks on them in Accra and Tema.
This year alone, over 20 forex bureaux have so far been attacked by armed robbers in Accra and Tema in the Greater Accra Region.
Prior to these attacks, there had been hits on police personnel and their posts.
Minority Chief Whip, Ahmed Ibrahim, suggests the IGP is to blame for the rise in crime, pushing for an early retirement for the police chief.
He told ClassFM, an Accra-based radio station, that Mr Asante-Apeatu has no business being in office in the face of heightened crime.
“There is something wrong with the top hierarchy of the police and who is at the top? It is the IGP. So, clearly, if he is due for retirement and you give him a contract and he is not performing the President must let the IGP go,” he stated.
Meanwhile, security expert, Dr Kwasi Aning has revealed that there has been an exponential growth in all five major crimes across the country since 2012.
Zooming in on 2017 and 2018 figures, Dr Aning said for car robberies, two cases were recorded in 2017, but by January 2018 January, there have been 10 cases.
Also, in 2017 the number of residential robberies stood at 26, however, in 2018 the figure shot up to 31.
For robberies at work, there were only two cases in 2017 but 2018 recorded 5 cases.
For street robberies, there were 21 cases in 2017 but the cases more than doubled in by one year, hitting 43 cases in 2018.
“So we are seeing almost a 45 percent growth in the five major crimes in Accra within the space of a year,” he said on PM Express, a current affairs programme on the Joy News channel on MultiTV.
Gov’t action
The Interior Minister, Ambrose Dery, has revealed government is in the process of procuring logistics such as helicopters, drones and vehicles for the police to help in the fight against crimes.
“We have focused to fight crime, it has never been so. In the past, it has been a general approach to crime and being reactive.
“The law has provided that in terms of security matters, you can have sole sourcing, we might have to do that to quickly get things in,” he told Journalists on Wednesday.
Myjoyonline
