Deal With Corrupt City Guards, Taskforce Officers - Ato Arthur

The Head of the Local Government Service, Dr Nana Ato Arthur, has charged metropolitan, municipal and district coordinating directors in the Greater Accra Region to investigate and expel city guards and taskforce officers engaged in extortion and misbehaviour within their various jurisdictions.

He further tasked them to call their city guards and taskforce officers to order and regulate their activities by engaging the leaders to help them understand their role as required by law.

Dr Arthur gave the directives during a meeting with co-ordinating directors of the Greater Accra Region at his office in Accra.

The meeting was also for the co-ordinating directors to share best practices on management of the activities of the city guards and taskforce officers.

He recounted series of complaints and agitations received from public officers, chiefs and market women, especially from the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area, on the misbehaviour of city guards and taskforce officers of assemblies whose work was becoming a nuisance.

Dr Arthur said the extortions and misbehaviour of the officers were an embarrassment to the Assemblies and the government and charged the coordinating directors to call them to order with immediate effect.

He urged assemblies to strictly monitor the duty schedules of the officers and provide them with name tags to ensure proper supervision.

Dr Arthur said: "As co-ordinating directors, you are the administrative heads of the MMDAs and responsible for controlling the activities and actions of the city guards and taskforce officers. The city guards and taskforce officers clamp vehicles haphazardly on the road and charge GH?150; they also take money indiscriminately from market women and that must stop.

"I urge you to turn the weakness of the city guards and taskforce officers to strengths by curbing their corrupt practices. I request that you reintroduce the white shirt and black trousers uniform for the city guards in addition to name tags."

Dr Arthur urged the MMDAs to identify innovative means to decongest and ensure effective sanitation practices.

On their part, the co-ordinating directors pledged to strengthen supervision in addition to the introduction of measures to streamline activities of city guards and taskforce officers.

They also assured of monitoring of officers and their designated locations in order to have up-to-date information on their operations on daily basis.

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