A visit by GhanaWeb to the Akuse District Police Headquarters in the Eastern Region has revealed one of the oldest district police commands in the country is in a sorry state following decades of neglect as the lack of basic logistics needed for personnel to function efficiently continue to bite.
With as many as four police stations under its Command including Nuaso, Kpong, Akuse, all in the Eastern Region and Asutuare in the Greater Accra Region, the Akuse Police Command is bedevilled with a lack of office spaces which continues to hamper effective police work.
The 110-year police station established in 1911 and located directly opposite the popular Akuse Prisons cannot boast of functioning washroom and befitting office spaces, forcing the District Police Commander to operate from a chamber and hall apartment acquired from a private citizen.
The structures previously used as facilities for various duties at the time of the visit were pale shadows of their former self, now dilapidated, obsolete, abandoned and idle.
The situation has forced an expatriate philanthropist (name withheld) to begin the construction of office spaces within the dilapidated spaces for use by the Commander and personnel of the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit of the Ghana Police Service.
This inadequacy does not only reduce visible policing efforts aimed at limiting the opportunity to combat crime through police patrols, but it also undermines the response capacity of police and weakens investigative and detective work.
The government has consistently assured the service that it is committed to ensuring that their police stations are resourced in the best possible way to ensure good service delivery to their communities.
As observed, the Akuse Police Station also has no cells for female suspects and juveniles who come into conflict with the law.
With only a male cell at the facility, taking custody of female and juvenile suspects is a recurrent headache for officers at the facility.
This compels the station to transfer female and juvenile suspects to other police stations where such facilities are available.
Though the Command under the supervision of the current Commander, Chief/Superintendent Winfred Asare Nyarko posted to the District in 2018 is taking initiatives to refurbish the shabby District Police Station and barracks by furnishing offices with the support of Corporate Organizations and individuals, much more work still needs to be done.
This includes the ongoing construction of a 6-unit washroom for visitors to the Police Station but which has stalled due to lack of funds.
Some opinion leaders who spoke to GhanaWeb thus appealed to stakeholders, well-meaning organizations and individuals including authorities of the Police administration to commit resources to address the difficulties confronting the District Police Headquarters.
The current sate of the Akuse Police Station