Hungry Cops To Be Withdrawn


DCOP Ken Yeboah
Barring any last minute intervention by Central Government, security personnel on peacekeeping duties in some communities in Eastern Corridor of the Northern Region will be withdrawn by the Northern Regional Police Command.

DAILY GUIDE can confirm that personnel who are supposed to be rationed by the respective district assemblies have not been fed since June 1, 2014 and are now living on the benevolence of residents to survive.

This is as a result of the inability of the assemblies to raise enough funds to cater for the daily upkeep of the security personnel in view of the fact that the District Assemblies Common Fund in arrears is not forthcoming and Internally Generated Funds (IGFs) are woefully inadequate.

One District Chief Executive (name withheld) confirmed to DAILY GUIDE that they would no longer be able to feed the security personnel in view of financial constraints in the wake of debtors chasing them for huge sums of monies owed.

This, he noted, would impact negatively on the security situation in the district as relative calm had returned in the last couple of months, hinting that he would officially communicate the situation on the ground to the Northern Regional Minister, Alhaji Mohammed Limuna Muniru, who is also Chairman of the Regional Security Committee (REGSEC).

The Northern Regional Police Commander, DCOP Ken Yeboah, who also confirmed the situation to DAILY GUIDE , said, ‘I am yet to meet with the Chairman of REGSEC to determine the next line of action.’

Attempts to speak to Alhaji Mohammed Limuna Muniru proved futile as several calls by this reporter to his cell phone were unanswered.

It was, however, gathered that the Minister is out of town on official duties and might return later this week where the issue would be tabled for discussion at an emergency REGSEC meeting.

Meanwhile, the East Mamprusi District has since ceased feeding station personnel at Boaterigua, a farming community in the Bunkpurugu-Yunyoo District, claiming the area is not under their jurisdiction.

The hungry cops are currently living on wild fruits and are sometimes assisted by colleagues at the Bunkpurugu District Police Headquarters who occasionally make personal contributions to keep them going.

About 500 armed police personnel are on peace keeping duties at various communities in the Northern Region alone, following recurring ethnic, tribal, chieftaincy and land disputes, with the latest being the clashes between Berimba and Yiyamba which claimed four lives.

Personnel assigned to those areas, it was uncovered, are expected to each depend on GH¢ 10 daily ration but some assemblies as a result of financial challenges, have reduced the amount to GH¢ 5 but have since stopped entirely.

 
This is the second time security personnel have gone through this unfortunate ordeal in the hands of the assemblies after a similar one in May 2010 which compelled the then Northern Regional Police Commander, ACP Awuni Angwubotoge, to withdraw men from Bunkpurugu.

Thirty-eight armed police men stationed there at the time due to instability following communal and ethnic clashes were withdrawn after the continuous reluctance by the assembly to feed them.

From Stephen Zoure, Tamale

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