“Our country has been blessed and often time when people talk about investing in the country, they talk about the peaceful nature of the people. That could never have happen if we didn’t have a force that really ensure that we are safe and the environment is safe for people to invest.” Mr Joe Mensah, president of AmCham Ghana said this in his remarks at a luncheon meeting organized by the chamber to discuss “Security and Ease of Doing Business” with the IGP.

The meeting was to engage with the Ghana Police Service, gain an insight into their operations and the ‘Transformation Agenda’ being driven by the current IGP, David Asante-Appeatu. Security is essential to having and maintaining a vibrant investment environment which will attract investors and drive economic growth, and the IGP couldn’t agree more.

He said in his remarks that, “There is no doubt an effective, efficient and a very accountable police service in this country will serve as a deterrent to criminals.” The IGP went on to say “It is also going to boost investor confidence that will result in economic growth.”

The Ghana Police is currently undertaking a transformation agenda to retrain, re-tool and make the police force a 21st century force. This Mr. Appeatu said is necessary because, crime is getting more sophisticated and the police need to transform in order to combat crime effectively.

The police he said can’t do this alone. He called for more hands on deck and urged the business community to play some role in whichever way they can to compliment the police. Mr. Joe Mensah also shared same sentiments.

In his opinion, Mr. Mensah said “The transformational agenda that they are talking about is something that is important to every business in the country. Ghana prides itself for being a peaceful place but if we don’t work closely with the police to continue to focus on that and continue to improve it, at some point, people will catch up with us and then we can’t brag about that anymore.”

Mr. Appeatu also shared some steps already taken by the Ghana Police Service in their quest to transform. He said some research has been conducted and results showed that if the middle class or inspectorate level is well equipped to coach and supervise the other ranks, it will go a long way to reduce misconduct in the police service.

The IGP assured that the transformation agenda is geared towards making the police force more efficient, effective and accountably. This process he said is a continuous one. “The transformation agenda does not end. It will continue as the demographics change, but I can assure that it will be a world class one.”

According to Mr. Joe Mensah, individual companies can make it a pledge to adopt a police station in the country and help them fight crime by supporting with funds. “We have a lot of American companies in Ghana who have been partnering the police and helping them. What we are saying is that, it can be expanded to reach all police stations that need support,” he stressed.

[unitegallery AmChamIGP]