Wa Residents Unhappy With Security Situation
Some residents in Wa have complained that they a
re living in fear and insecurity because of the rampant armed rob
bery in the Municipality.
The residents said Wa had become a dangerous town in recent times an
d people found it risky to stroll in the streets during the ni
ght for fear that they would be robbed at gun point or
with cutlasses and knives.
For instance, on Wednesday night, 11 stores belonging to traders in
the Wa Central Market were robbed of their goods and there has no
t been any arrest yet. M
otorbike theft has also become a common practice with snatching of
handbags and luggage from travelers and market women.
These concerns were raised at a Town Hall Meeting in Wa, on Thursday
. It
was organised by Action for Sustainable Development, a no
n-governmental organisation, with the Wa Municipal Assembly, to cr
eate a platform for ordinary citizens to question and demand an
swers from public officials on development issues and the use of p
ublic expenditure in the Municipality.
This is line with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural De
velopment’s public accountability system. T
he residents said additionally, robbers daily terrorised tra
vellers along the major roads in the Region, which linked Wa, w
ith some victims being maimed and a few killed.
The situation, they complained, was undermining socio-economic de
velopment. Th
e participants suggested the transfer of the heads of the Police C
ommand in the Region, and those of them who had worked and stayed in
the municipality for more than five years.
They said they suspected that some of the officers were in co
llusion with the criminals and, therefore, betrayed informants. Th
ey said a driver with the Department of Lotteries and a teacher wh
o was also an aspiring assembly member, were shot and killed by th
e robbers recently after they had volunteered information to the P
olice about their operations in the Municipality.
They expressed disappointed about the operations of Police in the M
unicipality, saying: “We have lost trust in them hence the ly
nching of criminals in recent times”. T
he participants accused political parties and politicians for i
nterfering in the operations of Police, especially intervening in th
e release of criminals identified as their supporters and called for
a stop to that practice to allow the police a free hand to c
arry out their duties without fear or favour.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Stephen Tetteh, the Wa M
unicipal Police Commander in reaction, blamed the inability of th
e police to carry out investigations into criminal cases
effectively to the so-called “Te gyaa bonyeni” (we are all one) sy
ndrome among the Wala people.
“Your ‘Te gyaa bonyeni’ syndrome stifles police investigations int
o criminal cases and must be stopped. H
e challenged residents to come out openly and name and shame any po
lice officer whom they knew as a friend to criminals.
Mr. Issahaku Nuhu-Putiaha, the Wa Municipal Chief Executive, said s
ecurity had been high on the agenda of the Assembly, pointing out th
at the safety of the citizens must not be compromised. H
e said local economic development could only take place in a se
cured and safe environment, describing the municipality ‘as be
ing relatively peaceful for some time now.
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