The Upper West Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Nii Darko Offei Lomotey, has commended the chiefs and people of the Upper West for collaborating with stakeholders in resolving chieftaincy and land disputes in the region.
He said feuding parties in those disputes had always allowed the rule of law to prevail in the resolutions of feuds and that had ensured peace in the region.
He also commended the media for their role in promoting peace in the region and urged them to continue to play that vital role.
On behalf of the Regional Coordinating Council, DCOP Lomotey extended the REGSEC’s appreciation to all stakeholders in the region for maintaining relative peace in the entire region.
Media engagement
DCOP Lomotey made the commendation during an engagement on Friday, August 1, 2025 to appraise the media of the security situation in the region.
He said the leading crimes in the region were the theft of motorbikes and snatching of mobile phones and cited areas such as SSNIT, Danko Napogbakole, Konta as some of the areas within the Wa Municipality that experienced robbery incidents.
However, he said since 2023, the police command had been on the trail of the robbers and had been able to apprehend and secure convictions for some of them.
He said four members of a gang of six that had been terrorising residents of Wa and its environs had been apprehended through police intelligence-led investigations.
Those robbers have since been convicted and are serving various jail terms ranging from 15 to 25 years with hard labour.
Strategies
He said the police had mapped out strategies to fight violent crimes in the region and called on the residents and the media to assist them with information on the activities of criminals.
DCOP Lomotey said since the criminals lived in the communities, the residents were better placed to feed the police with information to arrest them.
Another crime that is rampant in the region, he noted, was cattle rustling which was normally high during the dry season.
For instance, he said in 2023, the command managed to retrieve 450 cattle and returned them to the owners and in 2024, the number jumped to 500 and as of July 2025, a total of 400 cattle have been retrieved and returned to their owners.
Serial killing
On the issue of the serial killings that the region experienced recently, DCOP Lomotey said investigations were still ongoing but was glad to report that in the last one and half years, the region has not experienced anything of the sort.
He assured the region of the police’s commitment to ensure peace and safety of the residents.
Also in attendance at the media engagement was the Commanding Officer of the 10 Mechanised Battalion of the Ghana Armed Forces, Lt Col Obrempong Koduah, who entreated the media to lead the fight against filth in the city.
He observed that there was too much filth in the regional capital and there was the need for the media to fight for improved sanitation and ensure that the city was rid of filth.
Lt Col Koduah noted that the filth was a threat to the health of the people and must be tackled to avoid any outbreak of disease in the region.
