Accra, Dec 20, -The Department of
Forensic Sciences of the University of Cape Coast (UCC), has held it first
national symposium on Forensic and Investigative Sciences in Accra, aimed at
promoting the criminal investigation process in the country.
The symposium, held on the theme
“Peace Security and Justice for National Development”, focused on the
scientific approach to crime and security analysis, and featured presentations
from both local and foreign experts, who spoke on new forensic themes and
techniques that were being explored, used or experimented and developed towards
finding the truth about crime.
Professor Joseph Ghartey Ampiah,
Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, said the University decided to
organise the annual event to create awareness on the importance of forensic
science in conducting investigations in crime in the country.
He said, the symposium would
therefore, help in raising awareness on the University’s new programme of study
aimed at training forensic scientists to support the nation’s civil and justice
system.
The Department enrolled its first
batch of students into a BSc Forensic Science programme in 2015/2016 academic
year, to help train competent and adequate personnel for the system.
Prof Ampiah explained that “since
the wheel of justice is said to grind slowly, it would take a ‘high forensic
science to grease the wheel to move it faster’.
He therefore urged personnel who
investigate and prosecute crimes to build their capacities and skills by
enrolling in the forensic science programme at the UCC, to ensure that they
were ahead of criminals and crime.
Mr Albert Antwi-Boasiako,
National Cyber Security Advisor at the Ministry of Communications in a
presentation said issues of cyber-crime continued to be a big security threat
to Ghana because the country’s current security readiness was less than thirty
five percent.
He said dealing with it would
require both active and responsive actions, against the background that Ghana
had developed into an information technology base country that continually
record technology-based crimes, he noted.
He also revealed that child
pornography on the social media was currently on the rise, and, therefore, the
Ministry of Communications was collaborating with the Gender Ministry and
UNICEF, to address the concerns, adding that there was the need to look at the
social dimension of child pornography at home and that “parents must safeguard
their children from the abuse of the internet”.
Mr Antwi-Boasiako, however said
Ghana had one of the best laws to deal with cyber-crimes, but its
implementation still faced challenges, adding that there was the need to build
capacities of law enforcers to enable them effectively implement it.
He commended the UCC for
introducing the forensic sciences programme that would enable officers to
upgrade themselves in crime prosecution.
ACP Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah,
Acting Head of the Police Criminal Investigation Department (CID), said the
increase in cyber-crimes and terrorism had made the work of the Police
challenging and therefore science was needed to help investigate and build
concrete evidence to prove cases in the court of law.
She noted that over 80 percent of
traditional crimes such as rape, theft, robbery were becoming difficult to
investigate, while the police was struggling to put its forensic lab in proper
shape to investigate difficult crimes.
She therefore called for mutual
legal assistance to help in investigating crimes based on both science and
circumstantial evidence to proof cases.
“When we are able to investigate
and prosecute successfully, that alone will be an effective deterrent to crime”
Mrs Addo-Danquah said.
Mr Maxwel Opoku Agyemang, a legal
practitioner and a law lecturer at the University of Ghana Law School, said the
current state of investigations in Ghana was based on emotions and prejudice,
and therefore scientific evidence proven by its authenticity and necessity
would go a long way to help in prosecution.
Professor Maria De la Paz Aguilar
Caballos, an Associate Professor of the University of Cordoba in Spain,
emphasised on the need to increase close border cooperation within countries in
the face of increased terrorism and cybercrime across the world.
GNA
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