A police station built at Tanodumase in the Atwima-Mponua District, has been left to rot while the area struggles with inadequate police personnel.

The district, the second largest in the Ashanti Region in terms of land size, has only two police stations at Nyinahin and Sreso-Timpom with a combined strength of 47 officers providing security for 119,000 population in 400 communities.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Fredrick Kwadwo Oduro Asare Mensah, District Commander, confirmed to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) that the lack of adequate personnel was a major challenge.

The area has a large concentration of cocoa depots with the farmers scattered in communities and this had presented security concerns.

Reporters of the GNA visited the area under STAR-Ghana’s sponsored media auditing and tracking of development projects, an initiative launched to put a spotlight on how government’s resources were helping to transform the lives of the people, particularly the rural population.

The goal is to aid transparency, promote accountability and good local governance.

DSP Mensah complained about the bad nature of roads in the area and poor telephone reception and said these, combined with the lack of vehicles, were hampering night patrols.

He said notwithstanding the operational difficulties, the officers had been working hard with strong commitment to bring crime under control.

Stealing, threat of death, assault, causing harm and fraud were the common reported cases, he added.

This has created a worrying situation where one police officer takes responsibility for the security protection of more than 2, 535 people.

Ironically, a police station completed at Tanodumase, eight years ago, has become a white elephant, because it does not come with residential accommodation.

Several appeals made to the Police Administration and the District Assembly by the chiefs and people of the community to offer accommodation for personnel posted there are yet to receive any response.