Islamic SHS Shooting: IGP’s action not harsh – Security Expert

Renowned Security and Fraud Expert Richard Kumadoe has opined that the swift action from the Inspector General of Police (IGP) over the recent police shooting incident at the Islamic Senior High School in Kumasi proves to be vital.

About 25 students of the Islamic Senior High School were hospitalized after Police allegedly fired tear gas on them while they were protesting frequent crashes of pedestrians in front of the School.

The IGP, Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, after the incident, paid a visit to the School for a first-hand assessment of the alleged Police attack on some students of the Institution on Monday. Subsequently, three senior police officers were interdicted in connection with the shooting incident.

The officers include the Deputy Regional Commander, who was acting as Regional Commander in the Ashanti Region, ACP Alex Cudjoe Acquah, Suame Divisional Police Commander and Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) George Ankomah, Regional Operations Commander.

Reacting to this development in an interview on e.tv Ghana’s “Fact Sheet” with Sefah-Danquah, who sat in as host, Richard Kumadoe shared that the poor accountability and irresponsibility of the Police Officials in the region warranted such sanctions.

“What is important is that the IGP moved straight to the ground, which is part of his leadership style, and that is where his strength is. You realize that he got to the grounds, engaged the leadership of the student and came back to interdict the three topmost officials in Kumasi. The indication is that these three people have low levels of accountability and have no responsibility for the job assigned to them. The authority to which they acted was wrong, so he took it away from them.”

In his view, the IGP’s sanctions could go a long way to improve the public perception of the police system being unprofessional in their dealings. He believes that some Police officers act unethically because of the unpunished behaviours within the Police Institution.

“Other than that, this particular action is becoming one of too many that the carelessness and the unprofessional conduct of some of our law enforcement officers are becoming a mirage and a mess for the Ghana Police Service. I think it’s an issue of irresponsibility and the reason being that non-punishable offence will always rationalize bad behaviour and promote anti-social tendencies, and in this particular case, the Police have become lawless and a danger unto society,” he added.

The IGP has, however, assured students and Management of the Islamic Senior High School in Kumasi that a thorough investigation will be conducted to probe the conduct of Police officers deployed for crowd control during their protest.