Improve police-citizen coverage to end vigilantism —RISE-Ghana

The Executive Director of the Rural Initiatives and Self-Empowerment-Ghana (RISE-Ghana), a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Mr Awal Ahmed Kariama has called on the government to increase police presence across the country in order to effectively deal with political vigilantism.

According to him, political vigilantism is occurring in some parts of the country as a result of lack of police presence in such areas.

He said many areas in the country lacked the required number of police officers needed to ensure law and order.

He cited the Karaga District in the Northern Region, for instance, that the whole district has only nine police officers, hence some youth in the area taking advantage of the situation to engage in political vigilantism.

Mr Kariama made the remarks in a press statement he issued on the need to improve police presence across the country which copied Graphic Online.

Karaga disturbances

It will be recalled that the police in the Northern Region on Monday, October 30, 2017, arrested the Karaga Constituency Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Tahidu Zakari, and three others for their alleged involvement in disturbances at Karaga last Monday.

The three other suspects were Baba Ali Osman, Mohammed Alhassan and Abdulai Ziblim.

The suspects were identified by the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Karaga, Mr Alhassan Yabdow, as part of those who took part in the attacks that led to the closure of the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) offices at Karaga, the district capital.

The irate youth who were angered by the arrest of two of their friends vandalised a military vehicle and later attacked the police station at Karaga.

Below is the full press statement

KARAGA DISTRICT HAS ONLY 9 POLICE OFFICERS: TO EFFECTIVELY ADDRESS POLITICAL PARTY VIGILANTISM, GOVERNMENT MUST URGENTLY IMPROVE POLICE-CITIZEN COVERAGE.

Political party vigilantism is gradually becoming a canker which when not nipped in the bud will derail Ghana’s democratic credentials. For over a decade now, political party vigilante groups notably from two of Ghana’s current major political parties, namely the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) can be shamefully credited with the burning of tender documents in Wa to invading police station and freeing suspects in Karaga. So far a worrying number of 13 incidents of youth violent clashes have been recorded since the ushering in of the new NPP government.

Though His Excellency, President Akufo-Addo has condemned the act and urged the necessary State apparatus to ensure justice is done without fear or favour. While commending the police for acting swiftly and arresting some suspects, bringing an end to this lawlessness will required a holistic, multi-sectoral and more responsiveness and accountability for improved service delivery particularly in the area of security and police citizen coverage.

As part of efforts to improve governance and the quality of service delivery at the district level, RISE-Ghana and the Centre for Democratic Development –Ghana (CDD-Ghana) under the auspices of the flagship “I Am Aware” Project (IAA), RISE-Ghana engaged with Citizens and Duty Bearers in the Karaga District on the 24th October 2017.

Data from the project website, www.iamawareghana.com which empowers citizens to demand improved services by providing data on service delivery in the areas o Health, Education, Water, Security and Governance among others indicates there are only 10 police officers in the Karaga District serving a projected population of 8,647. According to the District Commander of Police, the current number at post is 9 indicating police-citizen coverage of 1:960 far below the UN minimum standard of at 1:500 people. Approximately, 18 police officers are needed on the minimum.

“The IAA project recognises that, the DCE who chairs the District Security Committee and the District Commander do not have mandate to recruit or post police officers to Karaga, but they put in the necessary processes such as providing accommodation for officers and requesting for officers respectively. Without the necessary infrastructure, officers may not honour postings. This is why the project is creating this platform for dialogue to review the level of service delivery and promote partnership with citizens to improve service delivery in the area of Security among others. We want you to use the standards to support efforts as well as demand better service delivery” –Mr. Awal Ahmed Kariama, Executive Director of RISE-Ghana said at the engagement meeting in Karaga.