Policemen and women, by their actions or inactions, bring the IGP, Mr Christian Tetteh Yuhonu’s name into disrepute.
Would the IGP, if he were the corporal, sergeant or constable at a police station, advise a victim, who reported domestic abuse, to go back into the environment of abuse and be subservient to prevent further attacks, if it was reported at the charge office?
Well, if he would not, then his men and women across the country are doing just that!
The IGP is primus inter pares! Because he cannot be in all places at all times, he has service men and women in localities, who are miniature IGPs in their communities.
When we meet any police officer, we meet Mr Tetteh Yuhonu, because they serve in communities in his stead!
It is unbelievable and shocking that in 2025 Ghana, some service men and women still believe that assault at home is a “family matter!” or a “domestic issue” to be settled by relations.
The Police Service is no mean institution. It derives its being from the basic law of the land, that is, the 1992 Constitution.
The Act that fleshes out the functions, responsibilities and duties of the service is the Police Service Act 1970 (Act 350) and it is a basic detail in there that the service is instituted for the safety of persons and property.
That is quite simple to understand, so how come that after activists have fought for decades for the Domestic Violence Act 2007 (Act 732), which is part of the gamut of laws for the service in their dealings with citizens, police service personnel disregard it and have the discretion to tell an abused woman to go back to her abusive husband or go back to her hometown till the husband “cools down”?
Clearly, the Act 732 minces no words in its Section 4 when it states, “the use of violence in the domestic setting is not justified on the basis of consent”.
Thus, if a wife acquiesces to be beaten, and the husband, based on that consent, strikes her, it does not make the offence less of an offence.
It is still an assault, whether the wife agreed to it or not!
Femicide
On Monday, November 17, 2025, the viral video of Mr John Lamptey beating his naked wife in public led to his arrest by Wednesday, November 19, 2025. The video was taken by a concerned resident of the area.
It resulted in more news, information and experiences of how the Ghana Police Service deals with reports of abuse, particularly against women.
Since then, the service has been applauded and commended for swiftly acting to arrest the husband after the fact (of the beating, captured on camera going viral).
I have been wondering, what if the neighbour had not taken the video of the beating? It would have been another such “event” glossed over by the Service. And what if the woman had died?
Would it not be fair to say then that the Ghana Police Service was complicit in the killing or femicide of the victim, because of her circumstance ‒ female, vulnerable, economically unempowered, and thus, an easy target for a bully of a man, called husband?
From the interviews granted by the victim, these are facts: her relationship was an abusive one, and as illiterate as she was, she had had the presence of mind to report the matter to the Ofankor and the Tesano Police stations. But they did not act because of her circumstance!
At the very least, when a report of abuse is made, a form should have been given her to go to the hospital for confirmation of her claims.
From her account on social media, after one such assault by her husband, she had gathered the little evidence of the rest of the pepper that had been used by the husband to insert in her private part before raping her, and went to the Tesano Police station.
When the perpetrator was called, he was given a “comfortable” reception in an office at the police station, while she was left sitting in the charge office, and the perpetrator had the opportunity to call his family members of the Ofankor “royal” house, who came and were all listened to.
The victim was, however, asked whether she had no family! Does that decide a matter, police men and women of the Tesano Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU)?
The victim, in the course of narrating her ordeal, wails about the fact that because she had no money her complaint was disregarded.
Is that the case, Mr Tetteh Yuhonu? And must the lack of family members at a charge office determine how a case is handled? Should it not be by the law?
Mr IGP, these issues must be tackled, and quickly. First, overhaul the Ofankor and Tesano Police stations. Keep them in close purview after the overhaul.
Subsequently, let the activities of your officers in charge of offices across the country be a matter of concern to you; one of your commissioners should have that responsibility.
Finally, but not exhaustive, Act 732 must be a manual in hand for all officers in all dealings with victims of domestic abuse.
