There Is Hope

Cases have met their unexpected demise in court because of shoddy work by detectives. This has prompted sulking plaintiffs to wonder whether they should have confidence in the administration of justice. Such persons do not understand the rather complex manner in which justice is administered and are quick to point fingers at the judiciary for their dashed expectations.

We were elated recently therefore when a magistrate court judge identified glaring anomalies in a charge sheet as presented by a detective of the Kotobabi Police Station and ordered her to go and rectify the blunders.

The action of the judge, Her Lordship Jennifer Myles Ahmed, scratched the surface of an in-depth challenge which starts from the shoddy work of some cops by commission or omission and ending up in culprits eluding the long arm of the law.

Some youth, gangster style, mounted motorbikes when lights were off last week Wednesday night and allegedly descended on residents of Alajo, inflicting injuries on six persons.

It is not for us to determine the merits or otherwise of the case because that is not our work. We are able to tell however, when the actions of a cop in a case of this nature can becloud the important ingredients that can assist the judge to come to a healthy conclusion.

Following the arrest of two members of the gang and their subsequent handover to the police, they were quickly released on bail. We wondered why after inflicting such life-threatening injuries on others they were quickly bailed under circumstances which left much to be desired.

Enter the Greater Accra Regional Police Commander, DCOP Christian Yohunu. Upon receiving a report on the aberration, true to his nature, he ordered that the right thing be done whereupon the detective quickly took the case to court palpably reluctantly.

The cop's attempt to mislead the judge was quickly noticed. She sought to create the impression that only one person was injured whereas the number stood at six. That was what prompted the judge's query and order.

The actions of both the Greater Accra Regional Police Commander and the judge will go a long way in assuring Ghanaians that they can count on selfless public officers who would do all in their power to ensure that the right things are done. All hope is therefore not lost on our systems.

We are particularly impressed by the fact that DCOP Yohunu, when he was alerted about the anomaly at the police station, quickly posed questions, answers to which informed the intervention which assuaged the pains of both victims and their parents.

This is only the tip of the iceberg of injustices in the country and which can be traced to the shoddy work of some bad cops. Little wonder that the Police Administration had cause to interdict over 50 cops since the beginning of this year, in a crucial bid to cleanse the law enforcement machinery of unwanted characters.

We especially congratulate the Regional Police Commander but for whose intervention the case under review would not have seen the four walls of a courtroom.

We do not want to believe that the cop being alluded plans to throw another trick in the works. We wish the Kotobabi District Command would make haste to apprehend the other suspects who breached the law by their unnecessary actions. We think they can.