A security analyst, Bright Oduro, has singled out a lack of intelligence for police as the reason some suspected murders remain unresolved.
In the wake of renewed concern over unresolved killings in the Ashanti Region, Mr. Oduro, a former Director-General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), suggested the use of rewards and bounties to improve chances of solving some of these cases.
He noted that premeditated murder is difficult to solve “especially when it happens and the killers get away.”
Speaking on Eyewitness News on Monday in relation to the number of unresolved murder cases recorded in the Ashanti Region in recent times, he suggested that: “there should be price tags [on the heads of] people who commit heinous crimes. We can come out with reward packages for anybody who can give us information leading to the arrest of killers.”
Mr. Oduro also stressed that incentivising collaboration from the public in this manner must be consistent.
“It should be continuous. We should keep on reminding the public that this is what we are going to do to people who give information that lead to the arrest of a killer,” he said.
“Without that, who would want to disclose information or give police information and when he does, he himself feels that his identity will be disclosed and next time, he will be the target.”
Murder rate in Ghana
In general, Ghana is not considered as a country with an alarming murder rate.
The value for intentional homicides per 100,000 people in Ghana was 2.10 as of 2017.
Over the last decade, this indicator reached a maximum value of 2.20 in 2012 and a minimum value of 1.70 in 2010 according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime’s International Homicide Statistics database.
El Salvador is known to have the highest homicide rate in the world at 61.8 murders per 100,000 individuals.
Ruth Eshun death
The suspected killing of Ruth Eshun, a nurse with the Sewua Health Center which has sparked outrage and fear is the latest unresolved murder in the country.
Ruth Eshun, who is a mother of three, was found dead at a secluded area close to her Ayoum new site residence in the Bosomtwi District.
Ghanaians on social media started a campaign, #Justice4RuthEshun, to also pile pressure on police to unravel the story and persons behind the death.
One person has been arrested by police in connection with her death.
Some unresolved murder cases in Ashanti Region
Aside from this recent incident, other notable unsolved killings in the region include:
- The suspected murder of a 21-year old woman, Augustina Tindanzor at Ahenema Kokoben New site in Kumasi on 15th January 2020.
- The murder of a middle-aged woman at Kokoben near Asafo Boakye Hospital in the Ashanti Region.
- The killing of Comfort Owusu Afriyie, aka Maame Yaa at the Cedar Crescent Hotel at Denyame in Kumasi.
- The killing of Asamponhene Oheneba Kwadwo Afoduor by armed assailants on the Kumasi Nkoranza road.
- The killing of two women believed to be 25 and 30 years on the 23rd March 2019 near Samad Hotel, Abrepo in Kumasi.
- The killing of a woman believed to be in her late 30s on July 18, 2019, at Santasi-Apire, near Kumasi.
