On Wednesday, this week, the police issued a statement indicating that the man who made a wild allegation that its personnel planted narcotics in his car and demanded that he paid bribe, else he would be prosecuted, has been arrested. The police statement identified the suspect as Patrick Asiedu, an Uber driver, and not a medical doctor as he (suspect) claimed in his widely circulated audio recording.
Earlier, the police had issued another statement, appealing to the public to help identify the person who recorded the audio, because investigations they had conducted at all the agencies mentioned by the suspect, which went viral on social media, had denied knowledge of the incident.
Indications point to the fact that the suspect will be put before court after thorough investigations.
Indeed, the allegation made by Patrick Asiedu, in his audio recording against the police, was a serious indictment that could have affected the operations of the police if he had not been identified, for him to lead evidence to prove his case. The Chronicle, therefore, commends the police for swiftly investigating the allegation and arresting the suspect behind it.
It is the hope of The Chronicle that the arrest of the suspect, Asiedu, would serve as a deterrent to others who think they can hide behind social media to churn out all manner of falsehoods, just to tarnish the image of an institution or individual.
The Chronicle does not know the age of suspect Asiedu, but we believe he might have read or heard that some years ago, a lady called Amina Mohammed, popularly known as Amina Yotung Bus, made a wild allegation about mass raping of women, when passengers onboard a Kintampo-bound bus were robbed at gunpoint.
Though she was later set free for causing fear and panic by an Accra High Court, we believe Amina Mohammed will never forget the trauma she went through when she was arrested. Unfortunately, because we do not learn from others’ experiences, a similar act has been repeated.
The Chronicle is anxiously waiting to see the outcome of this latest case, should it be sent to court.
But, whilst the police must be commended for the quick intervention in the case under reference, we are extremely worried that the same police are unable to resolve other high profile murder cases that have occurred in the country.
One of our colleagues, Ahmed Suale, was brutally murdered in broad daylight at Madina, in Accra, but up till date they (police) have not been able to arrest the perpetrators.
Jeff Fenec, who was managing some top musicians in Ghana, was also murdered in cold blood, but the police, as we put this piece together, have no clue as to who was behind it. There are many other cases that space will not allow us to mention.
Interestingly, the police are able to investigate and get to the bottom of majority of cases involving their personnel, or the police as an institution. We can recall the case of Constable Owusu Sekyere, alias Kwaku Ninja, who was murdered together with one of his colleagues and buried under concrete in a building that was under construction at Ablekuma, near Accra.
Investigation into Kwaku Ninja’s case was exceptional and the police were highly commended at the time, but they have failed to extend similar in-depth investigations into some of the civilians whose murders are still shrouded in secrecy.
The Chronicle does not want to believe that the police are treating themselves as first class citizens and do not care a hoot about civilians whose taxes are used to pay their emoluments.
If the Police Administration disagrees with us, then they must prove The Chronicle wrong by arresting those who were behind the gruesome murder of Ahmed Suale, the Tiger Eye Investigative Journalist, Jeff Fenec, and Mrs. Josephine Asante, former Public Affairs Manager of the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GHPA), among others.
We shall surely return to this topic.
