A Security Analyst, Adam Bona, says the Police hierarchy and the government should be focusing on reforming the Ghana Police Service and not arming more personnel.
Reacting to government’s directive to arm Motor Transport and Traffic Directorate (MTTD), officers following the killing of two police personnel on the Kasoa to Budumburam stretch last week, Mr. Adam Bona, said: “The whole situation needs to be cleaned up… Let’s look at the way they are trained and those who monitor them.”
Mr. Adam Bona, who was speaking on an Accra based radio, Citifm’s Current Affairs Program ‘the Big Issue’, stated that not even bombs could make the police feel safer.
“This issue of police officers coming under attack is not going to stop. It doesn’t matter if you arm them with bombs. It doesn’t matter how prepared you are. An ambush is an ambush.”
Mr. Bona cited the poor welfare and improper dressing of police personnel and even the lack of uniformity in their apparel as more pressing concerns.
“You see police officers riding scooters whithout helments. You see some of them with their top jacket open. You see some of them with reflectors not properly buttoned. Sometimes I stop to ask them -the way you are dressed, how do you expect me to respect you as a police officer?
“Until that change comes, we aren’t going to see so much difference with regards to the way police officers are protected and the way they protect us.”
He identified lack of trust in the service as a source of friction between citizens and police.
“What is happening has to do with a lack of trust when dealing with our security agents… One of the things that some of us have called for is transparency in the way those who are clothed with power to protect us go about their duties.”
He suggested reforms which should increase the transparency and accountability of the police.
