The security services said on Tuesday that statistics from the Criminal Investigations Department of the Police revealed that there have been a 71 per cent decrease in armed robbery since the security agencies declared war on the menace two weeks ago.

"In real figures there were 52 cases of armed robbery nationwide from 8 – 12 April while the figure for the period 22 April - 3 May 2002 was 15 indicating a 71 per cent decrease", Dr Kwame Addo-Kufuor, Minister of Defence and Acting Interior Minister, told a press briefing in Accra, to assess the impact of operations to clampdown on armed robbery and to adopt new strategies to restore public confidence.

He said six regions including Tema have recorded no armed robbery since the declaration, while figures for the Greater Accra region, which had earlier recorded 26 dropped to eight.

Ashanti had 19 initially but dropped to six, the Eastern region had five while the remaining regions recorded zero. Dr Addo-Kufuor said there had been a relative decline in other major offences as well, adding: "This figures demonstrate what a determined people can do even in the face of logistical constraints."

He noted that a free democratic society did not mean anarchy, saying, "Government will not shirk its constitutional responsibility of protecting law abiding citizens. We cannot and will not allow criminal elements to hide behind privileges of our open society and our democratic culture to cause mayhem and instability."

Dr Addo-Kufuor, however, noted that actions of the security agencies would be guided by the rule of law to ensure that individual liberties were not trampled upon. The Minister said the success story was the result of co-operation by the public, which had generated a new sense of motivation to the security personnel to meet the call of their profession.

He talked about the government’s determination to equip the service with the required logistics such as vehicles and communication equipment, adding that 360 new vehicles would be procured for the Police before the end of the year while 100 of their breakdown Land Rovers would be repaired during the same period.