By Patrick Biddah
The Interior Minister, Alhaji Mubarak Muntaka ,has threatened to engineer the transfer of regional police Commanders who are unable to fight illegal mining , popularly referred to as ‘galamsey ‘.
According to the Minister, if the police are able to trace the chassis numbers of all excavators they seize, it will lead them to their owners for arrest.
The Minister said , the failure by the Regional Commanders to conduct this exercise with the aim of leading to the eventual arrest of the ‘ big boys’ behind the menace, will necessitate a transfer.
Speaking at the Police Regional Command Conference on March 21, 2025 at the Police Headquarters, the Minister, wondered why the police are unable to flush out illegal miners when they have the skills to fight such nagging crime.
Aside from the issue of ‘ galamsey ‘, the Minister also tasked the law enforcers to work together with the Ghana Immigration to take steps to repatriate any foreign national, who is caught for indulging in fraudulent activities in the country.
The Minister, who spoke on a wide range of issues, further charged the Police to follow-up on all the civilians they have issued guns and licence to, explaining that there was the need to know their background and how the guns are being used .
He was, however, hopeful that the three-day conference will further sharpen the skills of the Police to be able to meet all targets, adding that continues education is the way to go in this era of sophisticated crime perpetration in order to apprehend the culprits.
In his remarks, the Inspector General of Police, Christian Tetteh Yohuno, embraced the task and equally whipped up the moral of his men to meet the targets.
“Having said this, I want us to focus on some existential threats that demand our immediate attention to ensure public safety and that is emerging crime in mining”, he stressed.
Policing, he said is not seen but felt and that can be demonstrated when the citizens feel safe and confident
He further expressed concern about the increasing attacks on mobile vendors and promised to deploy innovative strategies and countermeasures to thwart activities of the criminals who attack the vendors.
On police welfare, he promised to prioritise their well-being by providing medical care, accommodation and overall improvement in working conditions.