Tema-Ghana, Aug. 03, – Mr. Kwabena Acheampong, an international criminal investigation expert, has stated that the status of a complainant in a stealing case is immaterial for police investigations.
He said Section 124 of the Criminal Offences Act of 1960 defined stealing as simply dishonest appropriation of a thing that does not belong to the person, adding that it meant criminal investigators were required to establish appropriation, dishonesty, and ownership of the stolen article vested in another person.
Mr. Acheampong, who is also a Law Enforcement Officer in an interview on recent high profile stealing cases in which some ministers of states had been victims, that in the instant case, the law required the Police to establish that the suspects dishonestly appropriated money and properties that did not belong to them.
The Law Enforcement Officer explained that in the instance of Madam Cecilia Dapaah, the former Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources, the police did not investigate the source of monies stolen from Madam Dapaah’s room by her domestic staff.
“The law does not require the police to prove that the stolen money belongs to Cecelia Dapaah; the law does not also require the Police to prove the value or quantum of the money stolen,” he said.
He stressed that “The police didn’t have to investigate how Cecelia Dapaah got or made that money; it’s a standard requirement for all persons in every investigation into stealing, and Cecelia Dapaah is not an exception.”
Mr. Acheampong, who is also an international criminal investigation expert, indicated that the person from whom anything was stolen was immaterial in a stealing case investigated by the police.
He added that the status of a complainant in a stealing case was without any consequence to police investigators.
He added, however, that the police had to be mindful of the fact that the complainant in this case, who was then a senior public official and a minister of state, should have heightened their suspicion and communicated it immediately to the government.
The law enforcement officer said that as a standard practice, all police stations in the country were supposed to send crimes reported within the previous 24 hours to the regional police headquarters.
He noted that the regional police vet the reports and inform the National Headquarters of the most serious crimes that have to be brought to the attention of the government; such cases are robbery, murder, rape, defilement, narcotics, or any other cases of interest.
Mr. Acheampong said Madam Cecilia Dapaah’s case was, without any equivocation, a case of interest; therefore, the police should have captured such a case in the weekly reports they submit to the government.
According to him, such reports inform the government about the crime situation in the county to guide its policy, allocation of funds and resources, budgeting, and other considerations.
Then an international criminal investigation expert noted, “Furthermore, after the Police established evidence against the suspects and decided to go to court, the Police had to inform the Attorney General, given the fact that the complainant is a Minister and the amount involved.”
