Crime increasing but ‘celebrity IGP’ Dampare chasing Celebs and prophets – Sammy Gyamfi

National Democratic Congress (NDC) National Communications Director Sammy Gyamfi has described the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) as a celebrity IGP who is only interested in media hype and not doing the real work.

This description comes after a report by the Ghana News Agency indicates that violent crimes in Ghana were up by 20%.

Sammy Gyamfi argues that the current IGP instead of fighting crime in Ghana has rather focused on hounding political opponents of the current government; a move he sees as sickening and worrying.

“The rate of violent crimes in Ghana has reached alarming levels in recent time. Yet, our new IGP is busy hounding political opponents, Pastors, socialites and musicians over less weightier matters, while real criminals are having a field day.”

To him, this Inspector-General of Police is only good at clamouring attention to himself but the real work on the grounds continue to suffer.

“This is what happens when you have a celebrity IGP who is only interested in media hype; a people who are easily hoodwinked by publicity stunts; and a #SerwaahBroniGov’t that majors in the minors,” the NDC communications director said in a tweet.

Ghana News Agency Report

The Ghana Public Safety and Crime Report has said that violent crimes went up from 183 in 2020 to 220 from January to June 2021, representing a 20 per cent increase.

This was contained in a report assessing crime wave in the country which indicates that the top five most reported violent crimes were murder or manslaughter, armed robbery, assault, burglary and suicide.

Nana Yaw Akwada, Chief of Party at the Bureau of Public Safety (BPS) at the presentation of the report said firearms use in the commission of violent crimes had increased by 79 percent over the same period compared to 2020.

“Seventy-four per cent of reported armed robbery cases involved the use of firearms, while 20 percent of homicides involved firearm use. More than 80 per cent of violent crimes occurred outside of the place of abode or homes of victims; these included roads and highways, offices, business or trade spaces, places of worship, and other transitional spaces.

“More than 95 per cent of armed robbery incidents occurred outside of home, and 76 per cent of murder or manslaughter cases were reported to have occurred out of home. Violent crime deaths reportedly increased from 134 in 2020 to 171 in 2021 representing a 28 percent increase,” he said.

Nana Akwada said Central region recorded most suicide cases of six out of a total of 21 cases for the period in 2021, representing 29 per cent of suicides reported across the country; followed by the Greater Accra region with 14 per cent of such cases.

He said most armed robbery incidents occurred in the Greater Accra region forming 24 percent of all armed robberies with the Ashanti region following with 16 percent of incidents.

“Fifty per cent of all property crimes reported for the period occurred in the Greater Accra. More females (59 percent) were reported as victims to murder or manslaughter cases, while 81 percent of males were reported as victims of armed robbery events,” he said.