The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, has been called upon to ensure that the Case Tracking System (CTS) introduced in the country in 2018 by the government with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and being used in police stations across the country is given the needed boost to ensure speedy trial of cases.
Mr. Philip Duah, Executive Director of ABAK Foundation, stated this at a Town Hall Meeting at Brahabebome, a suburb of Obuasi, where the participants were sensitised on the workings of the CTS by ABAK and Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI).
Mr. Duah noted that currently the CTS was not being put to good use, and urged the IGP to retool his personnel to effectively make use of the gadget to assist the police, suspects and whoever patronises the police station.
He emphasised that most Ghanaians did not know the existence of such a device, and asked the participants at the sensitisation programme to educate themselves so that they would ask questions about the CTS whenever they found themselves at any police station.
“If the CTS is effectively used, there wouldn’t be a situation where a complainant in a case would be told that the docket cannot be traced, because the officer handling the case is on transfer; in such a situation, the CTS would have captured the information on the case long before the transfer of the officer was effected, and thus makes it easy to retrieve the said information,” Mr. Duah added.
Mr. Roger John Yendaw, Legal Aid Officer, Obuasi, said the CTS was a very useful gadget, and explained that it would signal the relevant agencies as to when a case was to be heard in court.
He also told the expectant crowd that in granting bail to a suspect at the police station does not call for the payment of any money.
Some participants acknowledged that they had learnt useful lessons from the interactions that went on at the town hall meeting. Others said they learnt how various cases should be sent to CHRAJ for interpretation and adjudication.
From Frederick Danso Abeam, Brahabebome, Obuasi
