Savelugu chaos: Police incompetent - Security Analyst

A call by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to the police to deal with the youth of Savelugu in the Northern Region who rioted over the appointment of Ayishetu Seidu as MCE smacks of incompetence on the part of the police, Habib Saani, a security analyst, has said.

According to him, it should not take the president or anybody to instruct the police to maintain law and order because their mandate has been spelt out clearly in the Police Service Act of 1992.

President Nana Akufo-Addo, condemning the incident on Monday June 19, said: "I use this occasion to assure the country that my government will not shield anyone found to have broken the laws of this country. Application of the laws of the land must occur in the words of the judicial oath: without fear or favour … or ill will, and, therefore, without recourse to the political or religious or ethnic affiliations of any citizen of the land. When you fall foul of the law, you must be dealt with accordingly and the law enforcement agencies, including the judiciary, must ensure this is done. To persons perpetrating acts of lawlessness in the name of being members of the ruling party, let me make it clear to you that you will find no shield in my government from the law.

"Recent disturbances in Savelugu, for example, where allegedly a handful of party executives and youth, trying to prevent the Municipal Chief Executive who has been duly appointed with the requisite approval of the municipal assembly from working, are obviously unacceptable.

"I urge the police to do everything in their power to bring to book all those who fall foul of the law. We cannot have development which will bring jobs to our youth without order."

Speaking in an interview with Accra News on Tuesday June 20, Mr Saani said: “This is gross incompetence, it is unprofessional for the police to allow themselves to be told what to do. The [Police Service] Act of 1992 mandates the police to maintain law and order, they have to protect lives and properties. So for the police service to wait for the President to give them an order for them to do their job is disturbing and smacks of incompetence.

“This is especially because day by day people are losing confidence in the security services. I think their incompetence is coming out at a very wrong time. This is the best time for them to prove beyond reasonable doubt that they are committed towards policing, they are committed towards protecting the people and property.

“This is not the first time they are being told to do their work. When the issue of Delta Force came up, the President had to go all the way to Kumasi to order the police to do their work. That is not supposed to be so because they have a mandate to do their work.”