Prez Mahama Is Clueless On How To Tackle Crime - Kofi Akpaloo

The Presidential Candidate of Independent People’s Party (IPP) Kofi Akpaloo says President Mahama knows little about crime because he is clueless on how to resolve crime.

According to him, the crime situation in the country is serious to the extent that only those who can afford private security measures, barricade themselves behind burglar bars, locks and high walls – prisoners in their own homes.

In a press release copied to Peacefmonline.com, Kofi Akpaloo feared private security is still not enough safety measure as a typical example is the most recent butchering of Hon J.B Danquah, a member of parliament at his residence in Shiashie, Accra.

He hinted that the latest crime survey (2015) revealed that 46.2% of Ghanaians thought that crime levels at where they live have increased, adding that they are not wrong as Highway robbery, carjacking, home robbery, murder, drug-related crimes and theft have all increased compared to the previous year.

“But those who cannot afford these extraordinary measures must take their chances in a daily gamble with their safety and security,” he indicated.

Turning to President Mahama’s State of Nation Address, he averred that the Mahama-led government has failed Ghanaians for not spending time to address this canker; thus “he basically showed the middle finger to the serious issue of crime in Ghana.” 

“Almost half of Ghanaians (47%) do not feel safe walking outside alone at night and a shockingly high 17% of people feared sleeping in their homes in 2014/15.”

He insisted President Mahama’s address made it clear that NDC government are out of touch with what is going on in our country, as countless Ghanaians suffer from crime and violence on the daily basis, the President did little more than reference their plight in passing.

“Drug-related crime got nothing more than a brief mention with the President saying absolutely nothing on how this will be tackled. This deafening silence was despite the fact that over the last 10 years, drug-related crime has increased by 218%.

“While we expect empty words from a man who is notorious for making hollow promises, this obvious disconnection from what is happening in Ghana can no longer be ignored . . . increased safety is important not just for us to feel secure, but in order to unlock the potential of Ghanaians and build a prosperous economy.”

Kofi Akpaloo reminded President Mahama that high crime rates are an investment risk and increase the cost of doing business by forcing business owners to spend money on security measures.

Fighting crime is a key factor in attracting investment and job-creating growth.

“Government’s inability to effectively combat crime is killing growth and opportunity and entrenching the position of 8.4 million jobless Ghanaians that the President has abandoned without hope. Every cop killed, and every victim of violent crime, is the killing of growth and jobs.

“The fact of the matter is that Ghanaians are tired of hearing the empty words and hollow promises from a man at the head of a party and government devoid of any workable solutions to make Ghana and our people safer."

In IPP’s workable plan to make the communities safer, Mr. Kofi Akpaloo revealed that his government will implement meaningful strides to decrease crime and violence by increasing visible policing and growing a competent, highly equipped police service against crime.

“We would increase the number of operational police officers to 120,000 from 35,000. This would give us a ratio of one GPS member to 225 citizens – which would put us above the international median but would be more appropriate for the level of crime that we have in Ghana.

“More police officers patrolling on the streets, more crime intelligence officers and more detectives are all critical for reducing opportunities for crime, ensuring rapid response to an effective investigation of crime, bringing criminals to justice, strengthening deterrence and thus making Ghana safer.”