Editorial: Walewale arrest – Ayekoo to the police

One of the major breakthroughs that has been made in the financial sector of this country is the introduction of Mobile Money Transfer, popularly known as MOMO. According to a myjoyonline.com report, total Mobile Money transactions in the first 10 months of 2023 reached a record GH¢1.527 trillion as against GH¢844.97 billion recorded within the same period the previous year. The figures from the Central Bank showed that the month of October 2023 recorded the biggest mobile money transaction value of GH¢179.2 billion.

According to the September 2023 Summary of Economic and Financial Data by the Bank of Ghana, the value of mobile money transactions in January 2023 stood at GH¢130.1 billion, compared with GH¢76.2 billion during the same period in 2022.

It surged to GH¢134.0 billion in February 2023 (February 2022: GH¢76.5 billion) and subsequently to GH¢147.5 billion in March 2023 (March 2022: GH¢90.5 billion). This report, which was sourced to the Bank of Ghana, tells a story of how our national economy is being transformed through the Mobile Money Transfer system.

The Chronicle can conveniently state that almost every adult Ghanaian has a ‘bank account’ because of the operationalisation of the mobile money transfer system. The system has also created thousands of jobs, especially among the youth. In almost every town and village in Ghana, a Mobile Money Transfer vendor can be seen busily helping his or her customers to transfer money to either their parents or dependants.

Unfortunately, this huge opportunity that has been created for the Ghanaian youth is constantly coming under threat. As it was happening to the banks before the current police administration intervened to stop them, criminals have made these MOMO agents their target for attack. In so doing, they sometimes succeed in killing these vendors and seizing the money in their possession.

This is a serious matter that can ruin all the gains that have been made in the sector. If the vendors think that they are not safe, they will stop the business, which can also lead to increment in unemployment rates, especially among the youth, who constitute the majority of the vendors.

It is based on this that The Chronicle congratulates the Inspector General of Police and his team for the swift investigation and arrest of two suspects who were allegedly involved in the killing of a MOMO vendor at Walewale, in the North East Region.

The suspects were nabbed on February 17, 2024 barely five days after committing the crime.

A statement from the police, which we have carried at our front page today, named the suspects as Zakaria Yamusa, alias Vandam and Fatao Issah.

The release promised that all those who were involved in the robbery will be tracked and arrested to face the full rigours of the law. In our view, this determination by the police will send strong signal to these social miscreants that they can run but cannot hide from the law.

Indeed, we have noticed that armed robbery cases have gone down for several months now, because the criminals themselves are aware that the police are on their trail. There is no society in the world where criminal activities can completely be eliminated.

What the security agencies, especially the police, can do is to minimise it, which the current police administration is doing. We encourage Dr Akuffo Dampare and his team to keep on with the fight to ensure the safety of businesses and personnel in Ghana. As we have already indicated, Mobile Money Transfer has created huge employment in the country.

We should, therefore, not allow these criminals to destroy the gains being made, which can have serious repercussions on our national economy.

We say ‘ayeekoo’ to the police for the latest feat they have achieved for themselves.

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