The Central Region, suburb of Kasoa, Hausa word for market, is shared informally with the Greater Accra Region.
Most of the residents here work in Accra and in their minds consider themselves as part of Accra’s population.
Although administratively part of the Central Region, the criminal activities which take place at Kasoa; and they are many, resonate in the nation’s capital.
It is an area which provides a conducive ambience for the commission of assortment of crime. Many alleys and makeshift shelters can confuse the stranger to this area, not so for the criminals who live here. For them, the chaotic of the place serves their wicked needs.
The rate of criminal activities in Kasoa is unrivalled. While some of these make it to the media, many do not.
The refugees from the then war-ravaged Liberia who lived in nearby Budumburam lived here too. With most of them now back in Liberia, some of their compatriots still live here, perhaps no longer interested in returning to their birthplace and gradually being assimilated into the Ghanaian population.
Kasoa is one area where the escaped Nigerian prisoners would find a safe haven; the place already harbouring other foreign criminals.
We have commented about Kasoa before, this being the umpteenth. It is beginning to look like addressing the security challenges here is beyond the ken of state agents responsible for such matters.
The murder of two police officers in this suburb a few years ago and the recent murder of the 11-year-old boy are tips of what Kasoa is made of.
We cannot accept a situation where our security agents have given up in reducing the number of crimes in this part of the Central Region.
We recall a major operation a few years ago when a combined team of soldiers and police officers descended on this stubborn suburb. Our relief then was short-lived because it was only a nine day wonder, a kneejerk reaction to an immediate heinous crime which had just occurred.
Such once isolated actions only push the criminals deeper into the labyrinths of the dusty paths of this suburb.
An interagency approach to the Kasoa challenge is the magic wand that can make the suburb uncongenial for criminal activities.
The assemblies, traditional authorities, regional security councils of both Greater Accra and the Central Region and the Town and Country Planning Department constituting a crisis body can brainstorm over the subject, their decision offering an efficient response to the challenge.
We cannot fold our arms hopelessly as the suburb remains a crime breeding centre for the Central Region and the adjoining Greater Accra Region.