The Minister of the Interior, Kwesi Ahwoi, has asked personnel of the Ghana Police Service (GPS) to brace themselves for more demonstrations.

According to him, demonstrations in the country were far from over, as more Ghanaians had decided to hit the streets to express their displeasure about issues bothering them.

There has been a spate of demonstrations in recent weeks against government for failing to address the current economic situation in the country.

Some of the demonstrators had even called on President John Mahama to resign if he could not manage the country well.

Mr. Ahwoi, who was speaking at the meet-the-press encounter in Accra, said many demonstrations deplete the coffers of the Police Service and affect the economy as well.

“With the limited resource available to the Police Service, there is a need for the public to know that continues demonstration affects the Service’s resources,” he said.

Mr. Ahwoi said because of the limited resources the Service had to borrow money during demonstrations to equip themselves in order to ensure the safety of the demonstrators.

He said the money used by the Police Service to equip themselves during these demonstrations could be used to fight crime.

Mr. Ahwoi commended the Police Service for handling the recent spate of demonstrations with professionalism, urging them to keep up their good work.

The Minister expressed worry about the increasing involvement of the youth in crime, including armed robbery, and the absence of non-custodial sentencing or measures, inadequate reformation and rehabilitation programmes, a situation which results in recidivism.

He said the Prison Service was advocating for the passage of the Prisons Bill into an Act that would provide, inter alia, the introduction of alternatives to custodial sentences.

Mr. Ahwoi said the police was increasing frontline policing and intelligence gathering and intensifying day and night patrol on highways, commercial and residential suburbs of the major cities.

He said the National Commission on Small Arms and light Weapons (NACSA) was exploring ways of mobilising support from development partners to develop a small arms database system, adding that NACSA was considering the possibility of mainstreaming blacksmithery into local gun production.