By Abdul RazakBawa
Dear IGP,
Happy New Yearto you, my fervent prayer is that, by the end of this year, you would have transformed the service into a world class police force, worthy of emulation by many countries.
Sir, your appointment as the Inspector General of Police, just like your life story since you join the service, is quite notable and inspiring. You were appointed as the acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) and subsequently the substantive chief constable, when you were 51 years of age, becoming the youngest IGP in the history of the Police Force.
Sir, the purpose of this letter is not to tell your life story but to tell you about a story of a young man, whose life was cut short by some misguided and unscrupulous individuals at the prime age of 32. He was a husband, a father, a son and a brother.
The story of the young man is similar to yours, at the age of 32, he was already a household name, playing his part and taking his role seriously in doing what you do Sir, ridding the society of criminally minded people, who have made it their forte to steal what belongs to all of us, including the unborn generation.
Sir, the young man I am talking about is, Ahmed Hussein Suale, who was murdered on Wednesday January 16, 2019, when unidentified men on motorbikes shot him three times, twice in the chest and once in his neck in his vehicle.Until his death, he was an undercover investigative journalist and an associate of fellow Ghanaian investigative journalist AnasAremeyawAnas. Sunday, January 16, made it three years since he was murdered in a Hollywood style.
Sir, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), would like to close the murder of Ahmed Suale and move onto something else.
The circumstance surrounding his murder was so tragic and painful that public outrage entertained no possibilities other than that he was shot for exposing the rot in society.
The public is still too shocked and too disgusted to accept that anything less than hanging the suspects on the next pole makes sense.
Sir, questions have been asked about what the Police is doing to bring this matter to finality. Three year gone and not a single person, has been apprehended and putting before court.
Sir, being murdered in your line of duty is one thing, but for the assailants to still be at large, is every families nightmare.
You have demonstrated your resolve to turn the Police service around;you are not an arm chair IGP, you get your hands dirty to ensure that, when we sleep, we do not have to worry about anything, because we are safe.
IGP, your deep commitment to justice and equity for all Ghanaians has been astounding since your announcement and I must say, you put your best foot forward.
It is for this singular reason that, I call on you to reopen the Ahmed Suale case. It is long in coming, we cannot live in a country, where criminals can run wild, without atoning for their sins.
It is sad, Sir, that three years after the murder, the police has done little or nothing to ensure that, the family receives justice. In African folklore, we could say that, his soul will not rest until his assailants are brought to justice.
The essence of democracy is to ensure justice for all, regardless of who is involved. We cannot be said to be truly democratic, when some people, by virtue of their closeness to power, are invincible.
Sir, the only time the Police moved on the case was in April of 2019, two months after his assassination, when a suspect, Abdul-Rashid Meizongo, 29, was arrested at a spot close to the West Hills Mall on the Mallam-Kasoa Highway about 10:30 a.m.
Confirming his arrest, the acting Accra Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Mr Kwaku Boadu-Peprah, said the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team of the command apprehended the suspect in a targeted police operation.
A brother of Ahmed Hussein, Mr Alhassan Yunus, at the time, had indicated that the family, on its own, had investigated, identified, tracked down and arrested the suspected killers at two separate locations in Accra and handed them over to the police.
He said one of the suspected killers was arrested at the Madina Ritz Junction and handed over to the Madina Police, but the Madina Police said the case was beyond them and so the suspect was later transferred to the Police Headquarters.
The other suspect was arrested at Abolo Pub, near Kotobabi.
However, the Director General of the CID, Commissioner of Police (COP) Mrs. Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah, during a press conference on April 2, 2019, said 13 suspects had been questioned, including Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, the MP for Assin Central, and Anas Aremeyaw Anas, in connection with the murder of Hussein-Suale.
She also stated that one suspect was on remand assisting the police in investigations into the murder.
She explained that the suspect who was handed over to the police patrol team at Abolo Pub was set free on March 20, 2019 because people at the drinking bar where he was caught had prevented the only policeman at the spot from arresting him and for fear of his (policeman’s) safety, he had to let the suspect go because other officers he had expected to aid the arrest had not shown up.
Sir, I know that the police force is overworked and underpaid, but you have in recent times demonstrated that the police can achieve a lot, with the little resources available.
The murder of Ahmed Suale, will haunt all of us, if we do not bring a closure to it. The young man needs to rest in his grave, so is his family.
Sir, your legacy as the Inspector General of Police, will not be complete until you bring the assassins to justice. Three years is already gone and as such the time to act is now, a lot of evidence can be lost or altered with the passage of time.
Sir, perhaps the only thing worse than Ahmed Hussein Suale’s murder is for justice to be taken hostage, either by public sentiments or by police incompetence and complicity. We can’t walk away from this heinous crime.
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