• He thinks the comment will affect morale among police officers
• He however does not think it will affect the government
Professor Ransford Gyampo, a political science lecturer at the University of Ghana has suggested that the Inspector General of Police, James Oppong-Boanuh, has admitted incompetence with his comment on the state of the country’s security.
The IGP in responding to calls for his exit justified that it is an overstretch for such demands to be made as he is not the only police chief facing robbery issues.
Oppong-Boanuh reasoned that even in advanced countries, crimes are committed on a regular basis hence a call for his head over recent robbery incidents is untenable.
But speaking in a Neat FM interview, Professor Gyampo said that his comments were irrational and insensitive.
“We are doing what we can to protect the people of Ghana. There is no society in the world where there is no crime. Even in the USA, UK and Sweden, where they, more or less have everything, they still have crime. The only place that doesn’t have crime is heaven and we are not in heaven,” he said.
He said that the statement by the IGP could affect the morale of police officers as it gives an indication there is nothing wrong with them being attacked by robbers.
“It was needless for him to remind us that we are in Ghana and not in Heaven. This is not how you speak when consoling people who have lost their loved one. At a time when a police officer has been killed and his family is [in] mourning, you go there to boost morale. He spoke well but the last bit was not good.
‘When you are giving the job of IGP, you are entrusted with the responsibility to fight crime so if you tell us it is Heaven that there’s no crime and that there is crime here, it’s a tacit admission of failure.
“It is insensitive to the emotions of the people he was aggrieving with. He didn’t speak well and it was not a politically smart language to have come from him. He didn’t speak well,” he said.
Professor Gyampo, however, does not believe that his comment could affect the government negatively as the police are distinct from the government of the day.
He also made a case for the resignation of the IGP, asserting that it is time for a younger person to take over and lead the charge against crime in the country.
Read Full Story
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Instagram
Google+
YouTube
LinkedIn
RSS