The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) has called for intensified security to ensure the safety of its Field Officers undertaking the Population and Housing Census in the Ashanti Region.
The appeal comes in the wake of recent attacks on three female Field Officers at Suame and Nhyiaeso, all within the Greater Kumasi jurisdiction, as they embarked on their lawful duties.
Dr Kobina Abaka Ansah, the Regional Statistician, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), described the development as worrying.
The authorities, he stated, had lodged an official complaint with the Regional Police Command, which was investigating the issues.
“We have three of our ladies being manhandled over the past week, including an attempted rape, assault, and robbery,” he disclosed, saying the incidents had put fear into some of the GSS’ officials.
One of the ladies, according to the Regional Statistician, was robbed of her working equipment, money, and mobile phone at Suame while returning from the field after an enumeration exercise.
Dr. Abaka Ansah said the issue involving the attempted rape had seen one suspect being apprehended by the police to assist with investigations.
The GSS, he said, was working closely with the police to overcome those challenges relating to the security of the Field Officers.
It would be recalled that some Field Officers in the Region suffered a similar fate in the listing of structures, with one of them virtually being kept hostage by a pastor at Bantama, and later rescued by the police.
Over 13, 000 Field Officers had been engaged for the Census in Ashanti, Ghana’s most populous region, which is expected to enumerate over six million people.
