The Press Secretary at the Ministry of the Interior, Julius Kwame Anthony, has described the assault of a man while in police custody as disgraceful and unacceptable, but has rejected calls for the resignation of the Interior Minister over the incident.
According to Mr Anthony, while the incident must have consequences, it should not automatically be construed as a failure of ministerial policy or grounds for the minister to step down.
“We accept that incident (slapping of a man in police custody) was disgraceful and shouldn’t have happened and there must be consequences,” he said.
He explained that the ordinary Ghanaian does not expect the Interior Minister to personally stand guard over every individual arrested and placed in police custody.
“When a person is arrested it is not the expectation of the ordinary Ghanaian that the Interior Minister is going to stand guard and ensure the protection of that individual,” Mr Anthony stated.
He argued that the incident was primarily a breach of duty by the individual police officers involved, rather than a failure of policy at the ministerial level.
“This is not a matter of policy failure where you will say the minister is responsible for, it’s a matter of breach of duty at the very level of individual officers,” he said.
Mr Anthony therefore described demands for the Interior Minister’s resignation over the incident as unreasonable.
His comments come amid public concern over the treatment of suspects in police custody and renewed calls for accountability within the security services.
While acknowledging the seriousness of the assault, the Ministry’s position is that responsibility should be established at the appropriate operational level and that the officers involved should face the necessary consequences.
Source: www.kumasimail.com
