Mr Ambrose Dery, Minister for Interior, on Tuesday said the Ghana Police Service is introducing additional security measures to deal robustly with armed robbery.
Among the measures are the employment of more personnel, increased patrols in communities along the highways, as well as stepping up intelligence across the country.
The Minister, answering questions related to the armed robbery problem on the floor of Parliament, said the cumulative effect of all the efforts has had an impact in reducing armed robbery in the country.
The answer was in response to a question asked by Albert Akuka Alalzuuga, MP for Garu, who wanted to know what measures the Ministry of Interior was putting in place to reduce armed robbery in the country.
Responding, the Minister assured Ghanaians that the Government is very much committed to the fight against the armed robbery menace in the country, and it is equipping the Ghana Police Service with patrol vehicles as well as other logistical support to enable them discharge their mandate effectively.
Mr Dery informed the House that the Bolgatanga-Bawku-Garu highways in the Upper East Region have been factored in the operational plan of the Ghana Police Service, and the joint Police/Military patrols codenamed “Operation Calm Life” has also been intensified in the fight against crime and armed robbery.
He said last year, government approved the recruitment of 4000 personnel into the Ghana Police Service of which 2000 are currently undergoing training at various centres in the country.
More so, he said, government in the past 18 months presented 491 vehicles to the Service.
“The cumulative effect of all these efforts has had an impact in reducing armed robbery in the country,” Mr Dery said, adding that recorded armed robbery cases from the period June to December 2018 was 1,101 and that of January 2019 to date is 868.
The Interior Minister appealed to the public to provide information and cooperate with security officials to arrest armed robbers and other criminals.
Source: GNA