The duty of the IGP is to fight crime and make life safer and more secure for responsible citizens. While the IGP himself and his POMAB members may not be at the forefront of fighting crime, they have a duty to adequately protect and equip police officers to ensure that officers do not die like houseflies when responding to violent crimes like robbery.
One of the most terrible crimes to fight in this country is robbery. Fighting robbery comes at a cost, and that cost may include the lives of police officers. Robbery has claimed the lives of more police officers than any other crime in this country. It is the single biggest source of police casualties.
I have been on the frontline myself and I know how it feels to return from robbery scenes after encounters with robbers. I still remember those times when we would respond to robbery calls bare-chested and return with the lifeless bodies of fellow police officers. The chances of police officers being killed while responding to robbery were so high.
I felt we were not being protected enough to protect the citizens as we ought to, so I spoke out. I started writing and even wrote open letters to Presidents, bemoaning the rate at which police officers were dying in the line of duty. I called on Presidents to protect the police so that the police would be better positioned to protect citizens and their property.
Speaking up in the manner I did came at a cost. I endured all kinds of vindictiveness and victimization, and for 10 years I was subjected to various disciplinary actions. My promotions were delayed while my mates advanced in rank. I was always in court fighting to save my career in the police, simply because I called on the state to protect the police as it ought to.
In one of those moments, while being paraded at the Police Headquarters for writing an open letter to a President, I ran into Christian Tetteh Yohuno and his words were simple: “We may have problems with the way and manner you are raising the issues, but you are right on every point you raise.” Christian Tetteh Yohuno does not talk much, so he concluded the conversation by saying, “Maybe one day we will get the opportunity to right some of these wrongs. My brother, it is well.”
Ten years later, I would watch Christian Tetteh Yohuno become the IGP and brazenly confront robbery more than I have seen in my entire life in the police. I would watch the police take down dangerous robbery networks in dangerous clashes, and yet I am yet to hear a report of a police officer dying while responding to robbery.
Today, there is more motivation to fight robbery than I have ever seen in my entire life in the police. That is not to say that there will be no casualties, but the most important thing is to ensure that the number of police officers dying in the line of duty is reduced to the barest minimum.
It is all about Mr. Christian Tetteh Yohuno, CT for short.
