A private legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu, has called for an amendment to the law that allows the police to raid and search homes without a warrant, arguing that it infringes on the rights of affected individuals.
His comments follow a lawsuit by former Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta, after an incident last month in which a group of individuals, including some in military and police uniforms, allegedly raided his residence in Cantonments.
Speaking to Starr News on the back of this, Mr. Kpebu urged the government to review and amend the law to better safeguard the privacy and rights of Ghanaians.
“The law currently allows the police to enter a premise without a search warrant. Unfortunately, that is the state of the law, and it’s a difficult situation. We need to bring this issue to the forefront and advocate for amending the law to prevent police officers from entering premises without a warrant. This law dates back to 1960, and even judges have pointed out that we are not doing enough advocacy for its amendment.”
“There have been times when previous governments attempted to make changes, but those efforts didn’t progress far. That’s the situation we face with the current law governing police officers. In contrast, security agencies like the National Security and Intelligence Agencies are required to go to court to obtain a warrant. Our modern legal framework should similarly require National Security officers or senior police officers to go through the court system to seek approval before taking such actions.”
Source: Ghana/StarrFM103.5FM/Benjamin Sackey
