Letter to the Editor
THE arrest of Joe Itaki leaves much to be desired in the way police dispense justice, especially at a time when claims against police corruption are hitting the ceiling.
Those who do not know Mr Itaki, he is the Director General of National Youth Development Authority and is the man behind mobilizing our young men and women in empowerment, self-help and life skills training complimented with job prospects through the Youth Development Centre program.
Youth Development Centre is fast reaching the communities right across the country.
Along with his appointment in 2019, Mr Itaki brought in sweeping changes to an organization that laid domicile for quite a while. Among them was institutional change and cleaning corruption was at the top on the agenda.
Many officers in NYDA who took the organization for granted or ‘rest and recreation’ indulging in corruption soon found their way out and some are behind bars.
Now the very people who have cases still pending or lost have collaborated to take Itaki down.
This is not to say Mr Itaki isn’t susceptible to commit crime and is above the law, but the irony here is he is in fact the one exposing, weeding and cleaning corruption at NYDA. Therefore the case is seen by many as corruption is fighting its way back.
Development partners, stakeholders and youth development centres around the country will all vouch for Itaki’s integrity and work ethic.
A very frightening trend emerging now is people with money and connection are cooking up allegations against a target, paying susceptible policemen or women to carry out their devious intent and arrest the target. The aim is basically to dislodge the target, often a person in authority, from his/her position and assume control.
Quite appalling is Mr Itaki was never charged for a crime related to work or allegations claimed in the media.
The police top brass, at times, is in a quandary as to how much corruption exists in their agencies. It is time they’ve got to put their feet down and tow their boys in line.
David Lepi
POM