Police criticised for poor investigation before inviting Sinare over guns

The Ghana Police Service has been criticised for failing to thoroughly investigate allegations against the Second Deputy Vice National Chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) before charging him with a criminal offense.

The NDC national executive, Alhaji Said Sinare, was charged with conspiracy to commit crime and possession of firearms without lawful authority but the charges were dropped without explanation on Thursday, October 29, 2020.

The prosecutor told the Kaneshie District Court that the decision to withdraw the case was as a result of “further development in the matter.”

Speaking to Citi FM, a former Member of Parliament for Akwatia constituency and a member of the legal team for Alhaji Said Sinare said had the police done a thorough job, the charges against his client would not have been proferred.

“They charged him together with the person who complained, who was actually in possession of the arms. Because when you come to our client, he was merely mentioned by the person who found the gun as the source of the gun but the law under which they were charging him is a law that talks about possession, but our client did not possess any arms,” Baba Jamal is quoted by Citi News.

Baba Jamal further explained that Alhaji Sinare was a lawful owner of two guns that went missing three weeks prior.

“He had a police extract with him, so if someone else finds the gun and tags him as the source and you want to charge him with conspiracy it is interesting. We already knew that that charge would not hold water,” he said.

At the Kaneshie Circuit Court on Thursday, prosecutors did not state whether they would open the case against Alhaji Sinare again.