Security Analyst, Mr. Moses Jantuat has expressed worry about the loss of 5 AK 47 rifles and 100 rounds of ammunition as reported by the 2020 Auditor General’s report. Mr Jantuat said he was surprised that the Police had not been able to provide justifiable reasons for the loss of the arms and ammunitions.
He said the situation calls for extreme worry as police arms and ammunition have been used in robberies in the past. Speaking to Samuel Mbura on A1 Radio’s Day Break Upper East, Mr. Jantuat called on the Police Administration to conduct quick investigations into the matter and present its findings.
According to Mr. Jantuat, the Coalition on Small Arms has constantly drawn the attention of the public to the fact to there is a worrying number of unregistered arms with some residents and criminals thus issues like these should not be taken lightly.
“Due to the strict mechanism in the handing over of arms and ammunitions at the Ghana Police Service and other security agencies, it is why it is surprising to some of us that Northern Regional Police Command has not been able to resolve this issue until it was discovered by the auditor general”.
“We are alarmed by the findings. The Armorer-General issues guidelines to all armouries in the country, on issuing and the receipts of weapons and ammunition before officers are deployed for operations,” he explained.
Background
Five AK-47 rifles and 100 rounds of ammunition are missing from the armoury of the Tamale Police Station; this is according to the Auditor-General’s report.
The non-existence of the arms and ammunitions was discovered by Auditors when they inspected the armoury. There was no information as to the whereabouts of these rifles.
Sources say, the rifles and the ammunition were issued to officers as part of Operation Calm Life, but have not been returned.
On February 5, 2018, government launched ‘Operation Calm Life’ to combat criminal activities in the Northern Region. About 300 security personnel were drawn from all the law enforcement agencies and put together for the initiative.
The move is to augment the patrols of security personnel in the wake of armed robbery attacks, political vigilantism, as well as chieftaincy and land disputes in the area.
The armourer told auditors that management had referred the case to the Regional Criminal Investigations Department (CID) for investigation.
However, as at the time of the audit in August, 2020, the CID could not provide the audit team with the status of the investigation being carried out to ensure the successful retrieval of the rifles.
The auditors directed the Regional Police administration to conduct an urgent and thorough investigation and mete out sanctions where appropriate.
Source:Fiilafmonline/ A1Radioonline.
