The Bono East district has been without a police station or a sitting court since a mob stormed the court premises in December 2025, leaving residents with no formal way to report crime.
Kwame Danso, the capital of the Sene West area, has its police station back. The district police station formally reopened on Tuesday, closing a chapter that left the community without officers, without a sitting court, and without any official route to justice.
The shutdown began on 10 December 2025. On that day, a crowd of roughly 100 young people stormed the district court, broke up proceedings, damaged property and freed suspects who were on remand. The group then turned on the police station itself.
The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), who heads the Ghana Police Service, responded by closing the station indefinitely. The Judicial Service Staff Association of Ghana (JUSAG), the union for court staff, pulled its members out of the district, saying their safety could not be guaranteed.
What the closure meant day to day
With no officers posted and no court sitting, residents were left to manage their own quarrels. Traders and businesses had no legal backstop. People who were robbed or assaulted had nowhere to file a complaint, and suspects who should have answered charges simply went free.
A farmer in the town who gave his name only as Kwame told MyJoyOnline that the period was the hardest the community had faced, saying that if a dispute arose, "you had to handle it yourself."
A trader, Adwoa, said residents were glad to see officers return but understood that the community also had to change. "We don't want them to leave again," she said.
Apology from the DCE
District Chief Executive Khaari Fuseini used the reopening ceremony to apologise on behalf of the area. "I apologise for what happened," he said, adding that it would never be repeated in Kwame Danso. He said the closure had affected everyone in the district.
Regional Police Commander DCOP Shaibu Sadique-Osei called the mob attack a dark day for law enforcement in the area, but said officers were returning without bitterness. "We are back, and we are back to stay," he said, and urged residents to work with the police.
Regional Minister Francis Owusu Antwi told the gathering that security and development go together, describing police officers as development partners who take personal risks. He warned against self-help justice.
The Omanhene of the Dwan Traditional Council, Okoforbour Awase Afura III, thanked government and the police leadership. He said traditional leaders had held a series of engagements with young people in the area to prevent another flare-up, and that anyone who takes the law into their own hands will face the courts.
What comes next
Court sittings are expected to resume in the district, but no date has been announced. The longer question is whether officers and residents can rebuild the trust that broke down last December.
