EDITORIAL: Police Again!

When the Minister for the Interior, Mr. Kwamena Bartels stated in Parliament recently, that Ghana had become a transit point for illicit drugs, many Ghanaians did not agree with him, but it was a frank statement he made.

For almost two years now, Ghana has always been in the news, both locally and internationally, about the arrest of drug smugglers, addicts and peddlers in the country. This unfortunate situation has dented the good image of Ghana. Now travelers using Ghanaian passports are subjected to special checks at the various airports abroad, which hitherto was not the case.

Unfortunately, our security men, especially the police personnel who are supposed to help the state fight against the canker, are themselves deeply involved in the "business". Just recently, an Accra High Court jailed three police officers for the role they played in aiding the illicit trade. With this, coupled with public criticisms against the police, one would have expected the men and women in the black uniform to learn a lesson from it, but that is not the case.

A press statement signed by the Minister for the Interior, Kwamena Bartels three days ago, revealed that narcotic substances in the custody of the police had been stolen. The statement, which was apparently prompted by media investigations into the case, stated that a committee headed by Hon. Kojo Armah, Member of Parliament (MP) for Evalue-Gwira, in the Western Region, and a lawyer by profession, had been set up to investigate the disappearance of the substance from the police stores.

The acting Director of the Public Relations Directorate of the Ghana Police Service, Mr. Kwesi Ofori, in an interview with Radio Gold, an Accra-based FM station, yesterday confirmed the disappearance of the substance from the police store room. According to him the store where the substances were kept, had close circuit television (CCT) in addition to a 24-hour police guard.

The Chronicle considers the revelation by the Interior Minister, and the confirmation by the acting Director, as a very serious matter.

If a narcotic substance, under CCT and a 24-hour guard, could disappear from police storeroom, then the internal security of this country has been entrusted in the hands of wrong people.

What is going on within the police service is a serious threat to the security of this country. If a policeman or men could muster courage to steal narcotic substances from a police storeroom, then there is no guarantee that he or she would not compromise the security of the country for pecuniary gains.

It is the hope of The Chronicle that the Kojo Armah-led committee would do in-depth investigation to the expose officers who are behind this theft, and deal with them according to the laws of the land.

The Chronicle would also like to suggest that as an interim measure such narcotic substances should be kept with the military until the police prove to the 22 million Ghanaians that they have changed their ways.