Mustapha Hameed, Information Minister
Press Briefing By Ministry Of Information
SECURITY
Government has taken view of the incident that happened at the Kwabenya Police Station in the early hour of Sunday 21st January 2017, where an armed gang attacked and freed suspected armed robbers who were in the custody of the Police. Government condemns the criminal conduct of these elements in the strongest possible terms. There is a man hunt for these criminal elements and we have no doubt in our mind that they will be brought to face justice. Government takes this opportunity to express it’s deepest sympathies to the family of the deceased police man, inspector Emmanuel Ashilevi
While this one of the isolated incident that have unsettled the Ghanaian population, we wish to continue to assure the Ghanaian people that the security agencies are working to ensure the general safety of the population. The preventive mechanism of the police service remain intact which helps nib such occurrence in the bud before they become full blown criminal activity. One such example is the diligence of Police Service, which with the cooperation of the public , led to the exposure of the certain people who had in their possession, explosives,with which they could have caused harm to the population. The Police continues to deploy this preventive mechanism to ensure that criminal elements are arrested before they deploy their activity.
As everywhere else in the world , certain elements manage once in a while to beat the system in order to perpetrate their crimes. When this occurs, the Police Service has worked hard to arrest the perpetrators and make sure that they face justice. In the case the criminal gang that killed two police officers in Drobinso in the Sekyere Afram Plains Of the Eastern Region, seven people have been arrested in connection with that crimes and are currently facing the law.
The Joint Military-Police operation in the Agogo area is still on going and the criminal elements are being pursued . In the case of the incident at the Kwabenya Police Station, the Police has taken series of steps since the occurrence to arrest the situation. The Police authorities have committed to give the public periodic updates on what it is that they are doing to bring the criminal elements to book. The Police administration is also taking the necessary steps to prevent a contagion effect. We therefore call on the public to cooperate fully with the police in exposing criminal elements or report suspected criminal activity.
Government on its part , is committed to equipping the security agencies to enable them do their job to the outmost. Recently, the President out footed 182 out of possible 200 Vehicle for the security services. Motorbikes and other logistics are being deployed to augment the logistics base of the police and security agencies. We therefore call on the media to support the work of the police by giving publicity to the positive activities of the Police and also publicizing police alerts
VICE PRESIDENT’S HEALTH
You are aware that the Vice President of the Republic, Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia is currently on the medical leave in London. We wish to report that he is doing very well. The Chief Of Staff And other senior government officials have been talking to him. God willing , he will be back home shortly to resume his duties.
PAYMENT TO CONTRACTORS
Government has taken note of a public statement by some GETFUND contractors that “majority” of them have not been paid. While we do not wish to engage them on a banter on semantics , we wish to reiterate that everything that the President said at his press encounter last Wednesday was true reflection of the state of government indebtedness to contractors generally. Out of the 1.6 billion cedes that the government owed to contractors, 838 million was what was owed to GETFUND contractors. 470 million of that amount has been paid to them. There is an outstanding bill of 367 million to be cleared. So surely , the bulk of what was owed to GETFUND contractors has been paid.
FAKE NEWS ON SALARIES
Over the weekend, there has been in circulation on WhatsApp , a release signed in the name of the Controller and Accountant General, Eugene Ofosuhene. The release, titled, Delay in Processing January 2018 Salary” alleges that payment of January 2018 salaries to public sector workers will be delayed. I wish to state that , it is fake news and should be disregarded. The Controller and Accountant General has sent payment advice of public sector workers to their various banks last Friday 19th January 2018.
…signed…
Hon Mustapha Abdul Hamid
Minister for information & President Spokesman.
