Cape coast: COP Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah, the Technical Advisor to the Minister for the Interior, has called for heavy investment in forensic sciences to establish a more robust and reliable criminal justice system in Ghana. She emphasized the importance of forensics, such as DNA, fingerprinting, and ballistics, in providing accurate and incontrovertible evidence to convict real culprits, as opposed to relying on hearsay, eyewitness accounts, and confessions, which often result in wrongful convictions.
According to Ghana News Agency, COP Tiwaa Addo-Danquah, a former Director General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), articulated these views at the second National Colloquium on Forensic Sciences, which was organized by the College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences (CANS) at the University of Cape Coast (UCC). The event, themed 'Forensic sciences for sustainable development: Interrogating the Use of Sciences in the Justice System,' aimed to promote dialogue among academia, practitioners, and policymakers on the role of forensic science in achieving sustainable development.
The colloquium took place amid public concerns regarding Ghana's forensic capabilities, highlighted by the recent transportation of samples from a military helicopter crash abroad for forensic tests. COP Addo-Danquah explained that sending the samples abroad was necessary due to Ghana's lack of the required reagents and the inability to import them promptly. She stressed the importance of producing such reagents locally for future emergencies.
She emphasized the need for continuous investment in new equipment, infrastructure, training, and reagent production to strengthen the country's forensic capacity and effectively combat crime. COP Addo-Danquah shared insights from her 30-year career in law enforcement, illustrating how fingerprinting, DNA analysis, toxicology, ballistics, and other forensic techniques have been instrumental in solving crimes and apprehending offenders.
COP Addo-Danquah highlighted the significant funding gap and other limitations in forensics, calling for a concerted effort to address these challenges. She advocated for the constant upgrading of forensic equipment to enhance investigative outcomes and recommended establishing more forensic labs nationwide to decentralize investigations and provide additional training in the field.
She called for improved collaboration among various agencies and institutions to leverage each other's strengths and enhance efficiency. 'Let us connect science with justice; let us work together and build a system based on proven truth in Ghana for every case so that our criminal justice system will actually be a criminal justice system,' she stated.
Prof Rofela Combey, Provost of CANS and Chairperson of the colloquium, emphasized that science should be a pillar of a fair justice system and sustainable development. She noted that forensic science plays not only a technical role but also an ethical and moral one, crucial to national development.
Chief Supt Dr Edward Kofi Abban, Head of Forensic DNA Laboratory, Criminal Investigation Department, Ghana Police Service, described forensic science as a cornerstone of progress that must be leveraged strategically to combat crime. He remarked on its utility in achieving several Sustainable Development Goals by protecting lives, livelihoods, and ensuring societal peace and order.
Dr Edward Danso Ansong from the Department of Computer Science at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) highlighted the critical importance of digital forensics in tackling sophisticated digital crimes, such as deep fake videos. He urged the use of Artificial Intelligence and machine learning to advance the investigation and prosecution of digital crimes.
