Pru East Member of Parliament (MP), Dr Kwabena Donkor, says residents within his constituency are fleeing for their lives due to increasing armed robbery attacks and insecurity along the Eastern Corridor of the Bono Region.
The former Power Minister has, therefore, called on the National Security, Interior Minister and the Inspector General of Police to engage their men to flush out such criminals from the area.
He said Kan Dapaah, Ambrose Dery and James Oppong-Boanuah should intensify security operations and safeguard the corridor.
Dr Donkor said incidents of armed robberies have become rampant and gravely affecting economic activities within his constituency.
“The economic impact of these armed robbery activities has been extremely negative,” he said.
The affected districts, according to the MP, include Sene East, Sene West, Pru East and West districts and the Atebubu-Yeji Highway within the Eastern Corridor of Bono Region.
Speaking to the press, Dr Donkor also revealed that armed robbers have succeeded in driving away traders who come to the community to conduct business with other traders along the corridors.
“People who come from Kumasi, Salaga and all other various places to those markets, if they are attacked and robbed of their working capital, they don’t come back again.
“In the current economic climate, it is not easy coming by working capital, so if you lose yours to armed robbery, it becomes a major issue,” he lamented.
Dr Donkor, who has been lamenting about the issue for years, says unemployment is one of the key factors leading to the cause of high rate of crime in his constituency.
“I think unemployment and other factors are giving birth to this high-level rate of crimes, and as a country, we are sitting on a time bomb,” the lawmaker added.