Brong Ahafo Region records less robbery cases

Sunyani (B/A) Nov. 16, GNA - Armed robbery cases have dropped significantly in the Brong Ahafo from the 58 cases recorded in 2008 to 44 this year.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Seth Charles Oteng, Regional Police Commander who disclosed this on Monday in Sunyani explained that the reduction could be attributed to measures adopted by the regional command to curb the menace.

The measures include provision of armed escorts to transport operators, information and intelligence gathering, education and sensitisation on personal security as well as reactivation of neighbourhood watch dog committees.

DCOP Oteng noted that more than 60 per cent of suspects arrested in connection with the robberies were Fulanis and 30 per cent Ghanaian accomplices.

He made this known when the Senior Command and Staff Course 31 of the Ghana Armed Forces College, paid a courtesy call on Mr. Kwadwo Nyamekye-Marfo, Regional Minister.

The 12-member military delegation comprising three officers from Togo, Rwanda and Nigeria and led by Colonel Samuel Yankyi-Akofur, is undertaking a seven-day environmental study tour of the region.

DCOP Oteng said Kintampo-Kadelso, Yeji-Atebubu-Amantin, Wenchi-Bamboi, Kumasi-Sunyani highways and Techiman, Berekum and Dormaa were areas noted for armed robbery.

He said the robberies normally occurred between midnight and 0400 hours.

He said due to inadequate human resource, vehicles and other equipment to support rapid response emergencies the Police Service had not been able to curb the spate of armed robberies.

The regional police commander indicated that the region was noted for highway, street, residential and workplace robberies and appealed to the general public to provide information about people with questionable characters to the police.

Nana Kwaku Aterkyi II, President of the Regional House of Chiefs and Omanhene of Kukuom Traditional Area said a total of 59 chieftaincy cases were pending before the house.

He said most of the cases bordered on succession to vacant stools, indicating that 12 of such stools were at the moment unoccupied.

Mr. Prosper Nkrumah, Senior Programme Officer of the Environmental Protection Agency, briefed the team on environmental challenges and strategies adopted to manage them.

He said environmental impact of mining activities in general included deforestation, habitat loss, land degradation and water and air pollution from waste dumps and tailings disposal.

He expressed concern about the emerging phenomenon of illegal mining (Galamsey) activities mostly in the Asutifi and Asunafo districts of the region as a result of Newmont Ghana Gold Limited operations in the area.

Mr. Nkrumah noted that the main occupation in the region was agriculture and agro-based industry, but explained that as a result of unsustainable farming and pastoral practices and the use of fire for hunting had led to land degradation.

These practices had resulted in the loss of the vegetative cover and biodiversity, sedimentation and siltation of rivers and other water bodies as well as watershed degradation and soil erosion.

Mr. Nyamekye-Marfo appealed to authorities where the team would visit to co-operate with them to enable them achieve their aims and aspirations.

GNA