Reduce use of cash to trace criminals – Security analyst

Following reports of the spike in crimes especially armed robbery attacks in Ghana, security analyst, Faruk Abdul Al Wahab, has called for proper documentation of people to aid in security checks.

The National Identification Authority (NIA), last year embarked on a mass registration exercise to capture the data of the citizenry to among other things aid in identifying people, enable them do transactions with banks and help in tax collection by the state.

But speaking on Angel FM, Mr. Al Wahab questioned its resourcefulness—whether it can be depended on for security verifications.

However, he noted that the responsibility of protecting the citizenry is not only the security agencies’ but everyone’s as well as other state institutions’.

In light of the aforementioned, he suggested that the Rent Control Department and the National Security should have a database on property owners to monitor the kind of people who buy and rent their properties as a way of ensuring security in the country.

He said: “If a person rents a house and plays music all day everyday and goes out at night, that should raise a red flag for the landlord. The landlord should report such a person for a background check to be run on him.”

He also proposed that a system be put in place to minimize the use of physical cash, to help fish out criminals as practiced in other jurisdictions.

“If you go to a serious country, you can’t spend cash anyhow because there is a trace. If you do any expenditure out of the ordinary, the FBI or the Department of Justice has every right to question you ‘how come there is a fluctuation in your expenditure this month?’” The expert added.

Touching on the banking sector and how they can help in combating crime, Mr. Al Wahab indicated that the service providers have a duty to question people to ascertain the sources of their income deposits, but the customers are not questioned when their deposits appear to be disproportionate to their incomes.

“Someone’s salary is 1,500 or 2,000 and then suddenly he hits. He walks into the bank to deposit 200,000 and no one questions him on the source of the money,” he said, adding the practice will not help in curbing the crimes if it persists.