Police Invitation Tactics Backfiring as Ghanaians Refuse to Cooperate with Investigations

A prominent Ghanaian legal practitioner has raised alarm over a troubling pattern within Ghana's law enforcement system: the practice of arresting citizens after they voluntarily attend police invitations for questioning is severely damaging public cooperation with investigations.

Reindorf Twumasi Ankrah, a private legal practitioner and acting Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Integrated Aluminium Development Corporation, argues that this approach has created a chilling effect on civic participation in criminal investigations. Speaking on JoyNews's The Law programme, he warned that the uncertainty surrounding police invitations has bred apprehension among potential witnesses and sources of information.

The Growing Reluctance to Cooperate

The core problem, according to Twumasi Ankrah, is straightforward: Ghanaians are increasingly choosing to avoid honouring police invitations altogether. Instead of risking voluntary attendance that might end in unexpected detention, citizens now prefer to wait for formal arrest warrants. This represents a fundamental shift in how people assess their own safety when dealing with law enforcement.

"The practice has shown over the years that when people willingly submit themselves or attend to an invitation extended to them by the police or any other institution with the power to effect arrest, they end up being arrested," he explained. This perception—whether universally true or not—has become entrenched enough to change behaviour. Citizens now interpret a police invitation as a potential trap rather than a straightforward request for information.

The paradox Twumasi Ankrah identifies is stark: by converting invitations into arrests, police risk signalling that individuals are suspects rather than witnesses. This pushes people toward asserting their rights explicitly, demanding formal arrest procedures instead of cooperating voluntarily. From an investigative standpoint, this is counterproductive.

The Legitimate Purpose of Invitations

Twumasi Ankrah acknowledges that invitations are a necessary and reasonable investigative tool. When police are still establishing whether someone is genuinely a suspect, requesting their voluntary attendance allows investigators to gather information without the formality and constitutional requirements of arrest. An invitation might simply ask a citizen to provide documents or clarify facts in a case involving someone else.

The problem emerges when invitations are used as a pretext. When the line between voluntary attendance and detention becomes blurred—or worse, deliberately exploited—public trust erodes rapidly. Ghanaians are left weighing their civic duty against genuine fear for their liberty.

Why This Matters for Ghana

This issue strikes at the heart of Ghana's justice system and police legitimacy. An effective investigation requires public cooperation: witnesses willing to come forward, neighbours providing information, and documents being voluntarily produced. When citizens fear that helping police could result in their own detention, investigations become harder, truth-seeking becomes riskier, and criminals may escape accountability.

The broader implication is that Ghana's law enforcement agencies must rebuild confidence in their processes. Twumasi Ankrah advises individuals to seek legal representation when attending invitations—a sensible protection, but one that also reflects how fraught the relationship between citizens and police has become. He further stresses that once officers prevent someone from leaving, the nature of their attendance changes fundamentally, triggering constitutional protections for detainees.

For Ghana's criminal justice system to function effectively, police must distinguish clearly between witness interviews and suspect interrogations, and must respect that distinction in practice, not merely in theory.