We Only Fight Crime...We're Not In Tango With Forestry Commission Over Achimota Forest - Police

The Accra Regional Police Commander, DCOP Christian Tetteh Yohuno, has dismissed a publication by the Daily Graphic that claimed Forestry Commission and the Police are in a tug-of-war over the Achimota Forest. The national daily reported on Wednesday that there was a confrontation between officials of the Forestry Commission (FC) and some policemen at the Achimota Forest over the right of the commission to construct a fence to protect the forest. The FC had begun the construction of the fence last Friday to prevent further encroachment on the reserve by an estate developer but the police however arrived at the site claiming they were acting on the orders of the Accra Regional Police Command to stop the project. One of them insisted that the Accra Regional Police Commander had instructed them not to allow anybody into the area. But the Commercial Development Manager of the FC, Rev David Kpelle, maintained that there was no need for the FC to obtain permission from the Accra Regional Police Commander in order to show reporters the boundaries of the forest. Reacting to the issue on Okay Fm�s Ade Akye Abia Morning Show, DCOP Tetteh Yohuno said the Policemen are not on the land for any private developer�s interest but rather for the interest of Ghana's government. He narrated that there was a call from the Inspector General of Police (IGP) that some people are encroaching on the government land in the Achimota Forest and so Police intervention was needed to protect it. According to the Accra Regional Police Commander, his Policemen had to maximize intensify security on the land to a 24 hour surveillance when they realized that some people have started digging at night, erecting fence wall on the government land. To him, the Policemen are working on the orders of IGP and National Security as it will take the IGP and National Security to stop his personnel from protecting the Achimota Forest. �Police is not in tango with anybody over the Achimota Forest; my interest is not on lands but my interest is to fight crime and as you know me, I have never engaged myself in such cases before. I want people to understand that this issue has nothing to do with the Police; we are there purely on security matters�.we are in the bush protecting government land and not in the interest of a private developer�, he stated.