*They Steal TV Sets, Fridge, Mobile Phone and Other items worth ¢139m

By Livingstone Pay Charlie

Inspector General of the Ghana Police Service, Mr. Paul Tawiah Quaye certainly has a herculian task in his reform agenda as some of his personnel continue to steal on a daily basis.

Information available to this paper indicates that several household items valued at ¢ 139 million which had been kept under lock and key in the exihibits room of the Greater Accra Regional Command cannot be traced.

The items, 24 in number, included two television sets, gas cylinder, Panasonic video deck, a Privilege standing fridge, a Simens C45 mobile phone and one bag of rice.

They were in the custody of the police since 2005 and were used as exhibits in the prosecution of one Prosper Donkor.

Prosper Donkor, who served a three – year jail term collected ¢127million from Mrs. Celestine Adzo Hodji with the promise of giving her the dollar equivalent. Prosper Donkor and another accused George Oppong, reneged on their promise. The police zoomed in and arrested them but George Oppong later escaped during the course of trial.

The first accused told investigators that the money he took from Mrs. Hodji was used to buy some household items which were in his room.

This paper was told that the police led on operation and successfully retrieved the 24 items from the suspect’s abode.

To secure the safety of the items, the police kept them in the exhibits room at the Greater Accra Regional Command.

At the Accra Circuit Court where the accused was sentenced, the judge further ordered the police to release the 24 items to Mrs. Hodji.

Mrs. Hodji has been frequenting the Greater Accra Regional Command of the Ghana Police Service for three years now, only to be told that the items could not be found.

Regional Commander, DSP Oppong – Bonuah confirmed to The Insight last Tuesday that the items indeed got missing.

He could however not point fingers at the person(s) who made away with the household items, saying “I was not around when it happened. I only came here in 2008 as the Regional Commander.”

He added: “The only thing for us is to pay for the cost of the items.” This is not the first time items in the exhibits room of the Ghana Police Service have gone missing.

In 2008, 77 parcels of cocaine kept under lock and key vanished from the Police Headquarters. They were substituted with Konkonte powder.