Thieves at Railway Authority to be jailed -Deputy Minister warns

Any unscrupulous individuals who would be caught stealing or encroaching on the state assets belonging to the Ghana Railway Development Authority (GRDA)under the Ministry of Railways Development would be arrested and prosecuted before the law court.

The Deputy Minister for Railways Development who doubles as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Asante Akim South Constituency in the Ashanti Region, Hon Kwaku Asante Boateng issued the warning statement.  He stressed the need for those who found themselves stealing the assets of railway authority to immediately put stop to that practice in order to prevent themselves from landing into the grip of the law.

Mr. Boateng issued the warning when he led a team of officials from the Ministry of Railways Development and Ghana Railway Development Authority to conduct public sensitization program.

The purpose of the sensitization was to educate the general public on the need to be vigilant and help protect assets of the Ghana Railway Development Authority which are being stolen by unscrupulous individuals.

The Deputy Minister led the team to various locations where some items ( Railway lines and steel Slippers) which were retrieved from thieves have been kept. The locations include the Railway station at Kumasi, Ejisu Police Station, Konongo MTTD, Juaso Police station, Nkawkaw Police station, and Anyinam Police station. 

At the Juaso Police Station, it was discovered that 3 individuals, namely Yusif Hudu, Ibrahim Yakubu, and another Ibrahim Yakubu who stole some of the items have been sentenced to four(4), three(3), and three 3 years imprisonment respectively at the Juaso Circuit Court. 

Three others, namely Kwadwo Gyamfi, Daniel Appiah, and Samuel Baffour are currently facing trial at the Juaso Circuit Court and another person by the name of Tweneboah Micheal was also arrested and granted bail pending trial at the Juaso Circuit Court.

At Anyinam another three individuals have been arrested and are currently in custody at the Anyinam Police station and awaiting trial.

Speaking to the journalists, the Deputy Minister explained that the activities of these unscrupulous individuals are a setback to His Excellency Nana Akufo Addo's efforts to redevelop the collapsed Railway sector and so it's important for the public to help the police to clamp them down. 

"His Excellency the President, Nana Akufo- Addo is spending a huge sum of taxpayers money to redevelop our Railway Sector and make the sector viable to open up our economy and drive economic growth and development. 

"It is rather unfortunate that some nation wreckers have decided to disturb this effort by the President and for their selfish interest they are stealing the Railway lines and other  Rail Assets that can be of good use to the ongoing development of the sector," Hon. Kwaku Asante Boateng added.

He called on the general public especially those living in the areas where the Rail lines Passes and the drivers who are usually engaged to convey the stolen items to point of sales to volunteer information to the Police to help arrest the thieves. 

He promised that whoever volunteers such vital information towards the arrest of perpetrators would be handsomely rewarded by the ministry.

 Freeman Koryekpor