Police in Upper West 'beg' for money to expand offices

The police in the Upper West Region have resorted to begging the public to help in expanding their crowded offices. Some personnel are packed in the offices despite a parcel of land that was acquired by the government long ago to construct a new regional headquarters.

Officers and other personnel are cramped at the current headquarters. First time visitors at the police station find it difficult to locate where to report their cases since there is no difference between the municipal and regional headquarters.

Rafik Salam of Joy News reports that a parcel of land was acquired over two decades ago by government for the construction of a regional police headquarters. Up till now, there is no indication that the headquarters will built any time soon.

At a meeting in June last year with the service personnel in Wa, the former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Paul Tawiah Quaye promised to add the construction of the headquarters to the budget this year but this promise has not materialized.

The “Police Office and Enquiries” office has ten personnel including the staff officer sharing five chairs, two stool and four tables. They work according to the shift system.

The case of the two CID offices is worse. The office is so crowded that there is no walking space, to the extent that some officers have to crawl on benches to get to their seats.

A source from the police who wanted to remain anonymous expressed fears about serious cracks in the walls of the offices which can eventually lead to the collapse of the building.

These situations have left the police no choice than to solicit for funds from some benevolent organizations and individuals of the public to expand their offices but the question is “how long can they keep begging?”

Joy News’ attempts to speak to the regional Commander ACP Kwesi Mensa Doku or the acting Public Relations Officer Edmund Nyamekye have proved futile since they refused to comment on the issue.