By Benjamin Nii Nai Anyetei
The historic visit of the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, to the Police Headquarters has opened a national conversation on rethinking crime prevention through a stronger alignment of cultural values and constitutional law enforcement.
Addressing the Inspector-General of Police, Dr Christian Tetanyoro, senior officers and personnel of the Ghana Police Service, Otumfuo noted that while traditional authority derives its legitimacy from ancestral memory and custom, the police draw their mandate from the Constitution. Despite these different foundations, he stressed that both institutions exist for the same sacred purpose , the preservation of order, dignity and peace in society.
Otumfuo described the engagement as the beginning of a journey aimed at crystallising cooperation between the guardians of culture and the protectors of law. He argued that crime prevention does not begin with arrests or sirens but with shared values that discourage wrongdoing long before it becomes legally punishable.
According to the Asantehene, culture once served as the first constitution, teaching restraint before punishment, responsibility before rights and harmony before victory. When these values are strong, he said, crime struggles to take root. When they collapse, law enforcement is forced to compensate, a burden no police service can carry alone.
The visit has generated significant public interest because it points to a possible policy shift that sees chiefs and traditional leaders as partners in community policing, rather than parallel authorities operating outside the formal security framework.
