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COOPERATION AND CONTESTATION IN CRIME PREVENTION IN ASESEWA IN 
THE EASTERN REGION OF GHANA 
 
 
 
 
 
 
BY 
Gloria Mateko Asare 
(10636773) 
A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF 
GHANA, LEGON IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE 
AWARD OF A MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY IN SOCIOLOGY 
 
 
 
 
 
JULY 2019 
 
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DECLARATION 
I hereby declare that this work is the result of my own research, carried out in the Department of 
Sociology, University of Ghana, under the supervision of Dr. Peace Mamle Tetteh and Dr. Samson 
Obed Appiah and that all sources that I have used or quoted in this work have been fully 
acknowledged by means of complete references. I also declare that as far as I am aware, this work 
has not been submitted to any academic institution for a certificate or a degree. 
Finally, I declare that I bear sole responsibility for any shortcomings or misinterpretation of 
parts that may be found in this work. 
 
-------------------------------------                                   ----------------------------------- 
Gloria Mateko Asare                                                                  Date: 
(10636773) 
 
 
--------------------------------                                               ------------------------------------ 
Dr. Peace Mamle Tetteh                                                             Date 
(Principal Supervisor) 
 
 
-----------------------------------                                         ----------------------------------- 
Dr. Samson Obed Appiah       Date 
(Supervisor) 
 
 
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DEDICATION 
I dedicate this thesis to my father, Mr. Eric N.  Asare, and my siblings, Airdy, Benedict, Richmond 
and Shine for their unrelenting support throughout this two-year academic journey. God bless you 
for the financial, moral and spiritual support given me during these two years of education. 
 
  
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 
I would like to sincerely thank God for His faithfulness and for making this dream a reality. I 
would also like to thank the many people who have helped in making this thesis possible. First of 
all, I would like to thank my supervisors Dr. Peace Mamle Tetteh and Dr. Samson Obed Appiah 
for their patience, guidance, encouragement and support throughout this period of thesis writing. 
I would not have completed this thesis without their expertise and guidance. 
I would also like to appreciate Prof Akosua Darkwah, the current Head of Department for her 
academic support and encouragement throughout my two-year academic journey. I also appreciate 
Prof. Steve Tonah, Dr Ohene Konadu and Dr. Albert Kpoor and the entire staff of the Sociology 
Department for their contributions to my life in diverse ways. 
 I am also grateful to the Tshepo Graduate Institute for the opportunity to spend a semester in 
Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada. I also thank Dr. Carrie Sanders, Dr. Robert Ame and the 
entire staff at Wilfrid Laurier University for their academic guidance and support, kindness and 
counsel during my stay in Canada. 
I would further like to show my appreciation to my family— my father, Mr. Eric N. Asare, and 
my siblings: Edward, Benedict, Richmond and Shine for their unending support extended towards 
me during these two years of studies. Also, my sincere gratitude goes to my uncle, Mr. Abraham 
Asare and aunty Felicia for their counsel and support. 
The next appreciation goes to my course mates—Philomena, Jemima, and Rita for their support 
during these two years and my friends, Lydia Ezinne Egbuka and Caleb Kofi Poku Andoh for their 
love and financial support during these two years. 
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Finally, appreciation goes to the various stake holders — the District Assembly, the Court, the 
Police, the Assembly Members, the Unit Committee Members, the Task Force, the Dademantse 
Union and the School Management Committee of crime prevention in Asesewa, who gladly 
welcomed me, responded to my never-ending questions and provided me with the necessary 
information for the successful completion of this thesis.   
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TABLE OF CONTENTS 
Contents 
DECLARATION ............................................................................................................................. i 
DEDICATION ................................................................................................................................ ii 
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................... iii 
TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................................ v 
LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... ix 
LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... ix 
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ......................................................................................................... x 
ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... xi 
CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................................. 1 
INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY ............................................................................................. 1 
1.1 Background to the study ........................................................................................................ 1 
1.2 Problem Statement ................................................................................................................ 4 
1.3 Research questions ................................................................................................................ 6 
1.4 Research Objectives .............................................................................................................. 6 
1.5 Rationale of the Study ........................................................................................................... 7 
1.6. Definition of Key Concepts.................................................................................................. 8 
1.6.1 Cooperation .................................................................................................................... 8 
1.6.2. Contestation ................................................................................................................... 8 
1.6.3 State agencies ................................................................................................................. 8 
1.6.4 Governance ..................................................................................................................... 8 
1.6.5 Crime .............................................................................................................................. 9 
1.6.6 Crime Prevention ............................................................................................................ 9 
1.7.0 Organisation of the study ................................................................................................... 9 
CHAPTER TWO .......................................................................................................................... 11 
REVIEW OF LITERATURE AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ...................................... 11 
2.1.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 11 
2.1.2 Crime governance: Agencies, their roles and strategies of crime prevention .............. 12 
2.1.3 Strategies of Crime prevention ..................................................................................... 15 
2.1.4 The Cooperation ........................................................................................................... 18 
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2.1.5. Reflections on the Literature ....................................................................................... 31 
2.2 Theoretical framework: Nodal Governance ........................................................................ 32 
2.2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 32 
CHAPTER THREE ...................................................................................................................... 36 
3.1 RESEARCH METHODS ....................................................................................................... 36 
3.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 36 
3.1.1 Research Design ............................................................................................................... 36 
3.2.1 Geographical location ................................................................................................... 38 
3.2.2 Political Administration ................................................................................................ 38 
3.2.3 Economic Activities ..................................................................................................... 39 
3.2.4 Social life and residential assemblage .......................................................................... 40 
3.2.5 Religious System .......................................................................................................... 40 
3.3 Population of the study ........................................................................................................ 41 
3.4 Sample Size ......................................................................................................................... 41 
3.5 Sampling procedure............................................................................................................. 42 
3.6 Instrument for Data Collection ............................................................................................ 43 
3.7 Data Handling and Management ......................................................................................... 43 
3.8 Ethical Consideration .......................................................................................................... 44 
3.9. The Data Collection ........................................................................................................... 45 
3.10. Limitations to the Study ................................................................................................... 47 
CHAPTER FOUR ......................................................................................................................... 48 
DATA ANALYSES AND DISCUSSIONS ................................................................................. 48 
4.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 48 
4.2 Socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents ....................................................... 48 
4.2.1 Age of respondents ....................................................................................................... 49 
4.2.2 Sex ................................................................................................................................ 49 
4.2.3 Educational level of respondents .................................................................................. 49 
4.2.4 Number of years respondents worked with Agencies .................................................. 50 
4.3. The nature and scope of crime in Asesewa ............................................................................ 50 
4.3.1 Criminal offenses in Asesewa .......................................................................................... 52 
4.4 The Concept of Crime prevention........................................................................................... 53 
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4.5. The agencies, their roles and specific contributions to crime prevention in Asesewa .......... 55 
4.5.1 The Cooperative Agencies of crime prevention in Asesewa ........................................... 55 
4.5.2 Hierarchy in Cooperation ............................................................................................. 57 
4.5.3 The structure of the Agencies of Crime Prevention (Their roles and sources of 
authority) ............................................................................................................................... 60 
4.5.4 Specific Roles of Other Partnering Nodes ....................................................................... 62 
4.6 Cooperative strategies of crime prevention ......................................................................... 72 
4.6.1 Crime prevention through socially-oriented programmes ............................................ 73 
4.6.1.2 Mentoring Method ..................................................................................................... 76 
4.6.1.3. Recreational Activities ............................................................................................. 77 
4.6.2. The Ancient Paths ........................................................................................................ 77 
4.6.3.1 Patrol, Arrest and Sentencing .................................................................................... 78 
4.6.3.2 The Fear of the Dark Room ....................................................................................... 78 
4.6.4. Community Support Measure ...................................................................................... 79 
4.7. The Cooperation ................................................................................................................. 80 
4.7.1 The Reasons for Cooperation among the Agencies ...................................................... 80 
4.7.2.2 Cooperation in practice .............................................................................................. 83 
4.8 Vertical and Horizontal Relationship among Cooperating Nodes ...................................... 84 
4.9 Resources mobilization, harnessed and utilized by the various nodes in crime prevention 
(Vertical Relationship) .............................................................................................................. 86 
4.10. Contestation .................................................................................................................. 88 
4.10.1. Suspicions of budget allocation and spending ........................................................... 88 
4.10.2. Unprofessional attitude of the police ............................................................................ 89 
4.10.3. Interruption of justice ................................................................................................ 91 
4.10.4. Lack of recognition .................................................................................................... 92 
4.10.5. Power struggle ........................................................................................................... 93 
4.11 Improving the relationship among cooperating agencies .................................................. 95 
4.12 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 100 
CHAPTER FIVE ........................................................................................................................ 101 
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS............................................... 101 
Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 101 
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5.1.1 Nature of crime in Asesewa ........................................................................................... 102 
5.1.2 The Cooperating agencies, their roles and specific contributions to crime prevention . 102 
5.1.3 Cooperative strategies of crime prevention .................................................................... 103 
5.1.4 The Cooperation ............................................................................................................. 104 
5.1.5 Resource mobilisation harnessed and utilised by the various agencies ......................... 105 
5.1.6 Contestations .................................................................................................................. 105 
5.2 Recommendations ............................................................................................................. 106 
5.3. The Limitations of the Study and Gap for Further Studies .............................................. 107 
5.4 Contribution to knowledge ................................................................................................ 108 
REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................... 109 
APPENDIXES ............................................................................................................................ 114 
 
 
  
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LIST OF TABLES 
Table 1: Tabular Representation of Respondents ......................................................................... 41 
Table 2: `Age Frequency of Respondents ................................................................................... 120 
Table 3: Educational level of respondents .................................................................................. 120 
Table 4: Duration of Service with the Agency ........................................................................... 120 
 
LIST OF FIGURES 
Figure 1: Image of a Nodal Governance…………………………………………………………35 
Figure 2: Hierarchy of the Agencies in Asesewa.......................................................................... 58 
Figure 3: Map of Upper Manya District, showing the study area-Asesewa, the administrative seat 
of the District. ............................................................................................................................. 119 
 
  
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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 
  
SMC School Management Committee 
COP Community Oriental Policing 
DCE District Chief Executive 
ADR Alternative Dispute Resolution 
DISEC District Security Council 
UCM Unit Committee Member 
BNI Bureau of National Investigation 
PTA Parent Teacher Association 
NGO Non-Governmental Organisation 
 
 
  
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ABSTRACT 
 This research sought to qualitatively examine how the various partners of crime prevention 
cooperate in crime prevention and whether while cooperating, there are any forms of contestations 
among them. The nodal governance theory (which purports that there are various partners which 
fall on different strategies to govern the system individuals inhabit) was employed. The theory 
argues that these partners can benignly support each other or conflict while they attempt to prevent 
crime.  The pattern for crime prevention in Ghana changed during colonialism, when in   an attempt 
to replace traditional methods of crime prevention, state agencies of crime prevention were 
introduced. However, the ineffectiveness of these newly introduced agencies necessitated a revival 
of the non-state agencies. Therefore, in the era of post-colonialism state and non-state agencies 
cooperate to prevent crime. The study used a semi-structured interview guide to interview sixteen 
respondents and found that in Asesewa, both state and non-state agencies cooperate to fight crime. 
The state agencies are the District Assembly, the police and the court, while the non-state agencies 
that support the state agencies in the community are the Assembly Members, the Unit Committee 
Members, Alternative Dispute Resolution, the School Management Committee, the Task Force 
and the Dademantse Union. The cooperation among the agencies reveals the hierarchical nature of 
cooperation which determines who calls the shots and the kind of relationship that exists among 
them — the vertical form of relationship examined the flow of resources from the top of the 
hierarchical ladder to the bottom of the ladder. The horizontal form of relationship determines the 
cordial relationship that exists among agencies at the same level in the hierarchy. The study 
therefore concluded that all the agencies of crime prevention in Asesewa cooperate to achieve their 
set goals, because the agencies exist within a system and they mobilise resources to achieve the 
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objective of crime prevention.  Even though there are some minor forms of contestations among 
the agencies as the theory espoused, they are able to effectively collaborate to achieve set targets. 
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CHAPTER ONE 
 INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY 
1.1 Background to the study 
I grew up in Dawatrim, a suburb of Asesewa. Funerals, which were organised almost every 
weekend were a form of entertainment for the youth. When I was seventeen years old, a tragedy 
occurred at one of these eagerly anticipated funerals:  the joyful atmosphere which normally 
followed a wake-keeping at funerals when young people in the community gathered to entertain 
themselves by dancing to the songs in excitement till dawn, suddenly turned mournful. It was usual 
for the young men in the community and the neighbouring communities to argue and fight among 
themselves over young ladies during this kind of funeral gatherings, but the argument led to a 
brawl and one young man took out a knife and stabbed another to death.  What is expected to 
happen at every crime scene (crime scene investigators coming to investigate the incident) didn’t 
happen because there was no police presence in the community. Therefore the leaders of the 
community immediately rushed to the crime scene,  arrested the suspect and sent the corpse to the 
morgue. The case was later reported to the police in another town for further investigations.  On 
the premise of this tragic incident, I have been asking myself many questions regarding 
cooperation among the agencies of crime prevention. I have been thinking and researching on way 
in which state agencies which are the police, the courts and the District Assembly cooperate with 
the non-state agencies to prevent crime and whether they encounter any form of contestation. 
The above narration is an evidence that crime is prevalent in every society, and it is crucial for  
various agencies to bring their expertise on board and cooperate, because the rate at which it occurs 
and the methods engaged in prevention varies within societies (Owumi & Ajayi, 2013). Because 
of the rate and variation of crime, societies employ different strategies to solve this societal 
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abnormality. Also, the state and its related agencies have resorted to the conventional methods of 
crime prevention using  the police service and the courts, while other societal groups also put in 
efforts to support the state (Aning, 2006). Despite the several attempts and different methods used 
by these agencies within communities to prevent crime, one may still wonder why these attempts 
have yielded minimal results. Although the attempts seem futile, efforts are constantly made 
because of the negative impactcriminal activities have on individuals and society. This impact, 
according to some scholars, may come in the form of physical and psychological harm resulting 
in fear and insecurity among the populace (Abotchie, 2008; Adu-Mireku, 2002; Witte, 2001a). 
Aside the aforementioned effects, the society needs resources for crime prevention such as the 
training of security personnel and funding to fuel security vehicles for patrolling, which makes 
crime costly (Glasson & Cozens, 2011).  
Some scholars have argued that previously, in Western societies, the state was responsible for the 
controlling and prevention of crime (McGinnis, 2008; Shearing & Marks, 2004). The State in this 
context refers to state-owned institutions responsible for crime prevention in the society using 
agencies such as the police service and the courts  (Owumi & Ajayi, 2013). With the rise of 
neoliberalism in these societies, there has been a shift wherein the state is no longer solely 
responsible for crime prevention (Shearing & Marks, 2004; Shearing & Wood, 2003).  Hence, in 
order to prevent crime, it is essential to go beyond policing and the justice system which are state 
apparatuses to crime prevention and involve other partnering agencies (Berg & Shearing, 2011; 
McGinnis, 2008; Wood, Shearing, & Froestad, 2011). There has been a shift in security 
governance from state-centric, which is the state being responsible for security governance to 
polycentric, which is to make creative use of different organizations to prevent crime (Elffers, 
2014; Sorgdrager, 1997). This shift called “responsibilisation” is described by Garland as:  
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The central government seeking to act upon crime not in a direct fashion through state 
agencies but instead by acting indirectly, seeking to activate action on the part of non-state 
agencies and organizations—wherein responsibility for crime control has shifted from the 
state and been placed upon citizens and other non-state agencies such as local council and 
community organizations  (1996, p. 452).  
 
The concept responsibilisation could also mean partnership, inter-agency cooperation and multi-
agency approach. Whereas neo-liberalism is noted for the distribution of state functions to other 
partnering nodes, Shearing and Wood (2003) on the other hand argued that the splitting of 
functions among several agencies in Africa, cannot be attributed to neo-liberalism but rather an 
acknowledgement of other agencies that already existed and therefore associating preventive and 
risk-oriented policing to neo-liberalism is the recognition of already existing works of the 
corporate agencies.  
Crime prevention in Africa is therefore peculiar.  It was not until the era of colonialism that the 
state agencies were introduced to crime prevention (Tankebe, 2009a). For instance, people were 
first recruited into the police service in the Ghanaian society in the year 1831 and the system was 
formalized in 1837 (Aning, 2006). The question that comes up is: before the establishment of these 
state crime preventive agencies, how did the people of Africa prevent crime? African societies had 
social control mechanisms that regulated the behaviour of members of the societies: family heads, 
spiritualists, and royal courts were some of the agencies used to ensure that crime was controlled 
(Tade & Olaitan, 2015). These traditional means of dealing with the issues of crime differed among 
various communities (Tankebe, 2009a).  
Today, the establishment of state agencies of crime prevention on the continent such as the police 
service and the courts through colonialism have caused a paradigm shift in crime prevention. 
Drawing on the exposition by Shearing and Wood (2003) that there were already existing agencies 
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of crime prevention before the insurgence of neoliberalism, we deduce that the existence of 
different agencies or stakeholders in crime prevention is not a new concept in Africa. 
 Some of the methods of crime prevention used by the people of Sub-Sahara Africa before 
colonialism were traditional methods such as taboos, songs, ostracism, and supernatural powers.. 
There were also the council of elders, kings’ courts and secret cults who were responsible for the 
resolution of disputes. The observation is that the presence of the state institutions has not 
discouraged the people from involving the traditional agencies in matters relating to crime 
prevention, but rather all the agencies are being merged to work together (Abotchie, 1997; Owumi 
& Ajayi, 2013).  
Therefore, modern crime prevention in Ghana, like any other African country with the history of 
colonialism, consists of a cooperation among various agencies or groups such as the community 
organisations, the police service, the courts, and local councils (Abotchie, 1997; Owumi & Ajayi, 
2013). The involvement of other partners in crime prevention in Africa is as a result of the 
ineffective nature of state agencies (Hills, 2014). 
1.2 Problem Statement 
Crime is a major concern of the world which has sparked research on crime prevention among 
researchers.  Moreover, the rate of crime differs from one country to the other resulting in a 
variation in the methods of crime prevention (Amtaika, 2010; Owumi & Ajayi, 2013; Witte, 
2001a). Various scholars cited cases of crime prevention in the context of the developed countries, 
focusing on how agencies cooperate to prevent crime in their communities (Garland, 2001; Goris 
& Walters, 1999; Rosenbaum, 2002).  
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Asesewa has a population of about 18,000 people. The area is segregated based on religion and 
the economic activities of the people. The Hausa peeple occupy a section of the area normally 
referred to as “zongo”, and the market area where commodities are sold, and the other area 
occupied mainly by the Krobos and a minority of other ethnic groups such as the Ewes, and the 
Akans. The main occupation of the people is farming with a small percentage of institutions which 
provide services.    
Asesewa like any other town has a challenge with criminal activities. Police report on crime 
statistics in Asesewa, 2018, provided the total number of crimes that were committed throughout 
the year—a total of three hundred and ten (310) cases were reported to the police. Out of the total 
number of cases reported, thirty (30) cases were refused, which means that these cases were 
terminated, or the prosecutor has refused to follow-up on the case or the charges have been 
dropped. Fifty-five (55) of the cases were sent to court, thirty-one (31) were convicted, twenty-
four (24) awaiting trial, thirty-five cases closed and one-hundred and ninety (190) cases were under 
investigation. The prevalent crime in the society is stealing which had a total number of eighty-
four (84) the least committed crimes are illegal drug trafficking, stray animal, murder, fictitious 
trading, illegal felling of tree, and attempted murder which occurred once in the year. This crime 
statistic is an evidence that crime is not exclusive to an area. 
 
Although there is also a considerable literature regarding crime prevention in Ghana, the available 
scholarship failed to explicitly investigate the cooperation and contestation among partnering 
agencies of crime prevention in the studies they conducted. Their focus was on crime control, the 
fear of crime, crime prevention through environmental design. Works which examined cooperation 
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were focused on police and public cooperation (Aning, 2006; Annan, 2013; Appiahene-Gyamfi, 
2003; Tankebe, 2008, 2009b). Hence, this research sought to explore the various nodes, their 
contributions, how they cooperate, the relationship among partnering agencies of crime prevention 
in Asesewa and the factors that stoke contestation among the partnering agencies.  
 
1.3 Research questions  
Against this background, this research sought to answer the following questions.  
• Which partnering agencies are responsible for crime prevention in Asesewa? 
• What are the strategies that they employ in the governance of crime? 
• How are the agencies able to collaborate and which one takes up the role of mobilizing the 
other agencies towards crime prevention?  
• How are resources distributed throughout the nodal governance — among nodes on the 
same level of the hierarchy and those at the top of the hierarchy?  
• What are the contestations that exist among the various partnering agencies, and how are 
these contestations managed? 
1.4 Research Objectives 
The main objective of the study was to explore crime prevention in Asesewa in the Eastern Region 
of Ghana, identify the partners that are involved and how they cooperate, and evaluate the forms 
of contestation that may ensue during cooperation. The specific objectives are to:  
1. Identify the partnering agencies, their roles and specific contributions to crime prevention 
in Asesewa 
2. Examine the approaches and strategies employed by the partners involved in crime 
prevention in Asesewa.  
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3. Determine the factors underpinning cooperation or contestation and the implications of 
these for crime prevention. 
4. Assess the relationship that exists among the partners. 
5. Explore how resources are mobilized, harnessed and utilized by the various agencies in 
crime prevention.  
6. Make suggestions on how to improve the relationship among agencies to prevent and 
manage crime in Asesewa. 
 
1.5 Rationale of the Study 
The study of the cooperation and contestation of agencies in crime prevention in Asesewa is 
essential because it allowed us to examine the various partnering agencies involved in crime 
prevention, outline the roles the various agencies have to play in crime prevention and explore 
ways to improve relationship among the partners of crime prevention. 
 The study further investigated the relationship that exists among the various agencies in crime 
prevention. This was to find out whether the agencies are cooperating or there are contestations. 
The researcher also suggested policies to improve any kind of challenges that affects their 
relationship. 
And finally, this research added to the literature on crime prevention in Ghana. There are several 
scholarly writings on crime prevention in Ghana (Abotchie, 1997, 2008; Tankebe, 2008, 2009a) 
yet, the subject of cooperation and contestation among agencies in crime prevention is overlooked 
hence this research contributed to the available literature from the perspective of cooperation and 
contestation in crime prevention. 
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1.6. Definition of Key Concepts 
It was important to define the key concepts used in the study as a guide for contextualising the 
work as well as focusing on what is operationalised within the strictures of the thesis.  
1.6.1 Cooperation 
“Cooperation” is used to describe the relationship that exists among nodes that make them support 
each other (Shearing & Wood, 2003).  
1.6.2. Contestation 
Is contextualised based on the definition of  Shearing and Wood (2003) as referring to the conflicts 
that emerge as a result of agencies trying to co-operate.  
1.6.3 State agencies 
The term “state” has been defined as the “central political institution of a given country” (Beirne 
& Messerschmidt, 2000, p. 14). Agencies have been defined as relationships of agents “acting for” 
or “control in complex systems” for principals. Therefore, “acting for” denotes division of labour 
and the acquisition of expertise and the bridging of any social or physical distance (Shapiro, 2005, 
p. 276). The term “state agencies” is not plainly defined in the literature on crime prevention or 
security governance, however Shearing and Wood (2003) defined the term as the state-owned 
institutions such as the police, the courts and the correctional centres through which crime is 
governed. The state agencies in this context are those state-owned agencies such as the police, the 
courts and the District Assembly which represent the state in the town and whose responsibility is 
crime prevention. 
1.6.4 Governance 
Governance is defined as the “management of the course of events in a social system” (Burris, 
Drahos, & Shearing, 2005, p. 2), It also refers “to the institutional mechanisms through which we 
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regulate the public aspects of social and community life” (Pillay, 2008, p. 145).  It can further 
mean “the regulatory networks of interdependence that characterise social and collective life which 
fall outside the direct responsibility of the state” (Pillay, 2008, p. 145). However, governance will 
be used in this context to mean the strategies employed by the agencies towards crime prevention 
in the society. 
1.6.5 Crime 
The term “crime” has been defined from different perspectives: legal, pathological, statistical and 
sociological, but the sociological definition of crime will be used for this study which is as “an act 
which offends the strong and definite dispositions of the collective consciousness, and which, as a 
consequence, evokes a punishment” (Abotchie, 2012, p. 6).  
1.6.6 Crime Prevention 
 Crime prevention has been defined by Bala and Anand (2000) in different contexts as measures  
to prevent a person from committing crime by putting in place early preventive measures; or 
measures put in place to make sure an individual does not commit further crime after an offence. 
It also is the measure of the chances to commit an offence such as neighbourhood watch schemes, 
increased policing, and tight security.  Finally, crime prevention is defined as the measures aimed 
at the arrest and the punishment of offenders; the essence of this is to prevent others from 
committing future crimes. However, crime prevention is used in this study to mean the various 
methods either legal or customary used by community security agencies to ensure that members 
of the community are secure. 
1.7.0 Organisation of the study  
The study has been categorised into five chapters. Each chapter has its sub themes for easy 
comprehension. Chapter one of the study includes the background of the study, the problem 
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statement, the research questions, the objectives of the study, the study rationale, and the 
organisation of the thesis. 
Chapter two comprises the literature review on partnership in crime prevention and the theoretical 
framework of the study which acts as the lens through which the study is viewed. 
Chapter three of the study focuses on the method employed for the study. This includes the 
research design, justification of study area, the sample size, sampling of respondents and data 
collection methods. The ethical considerations and the limitations of the study are also discussed. 
Chapter four discusses the data which was collected from primary sources. This was done by 
thematically analysing the data based on the data which was collected from the target respondents. 
The themes were generated from the research questions with the focus on partnership in crime 
prevention. 
Chapter five of the study concluded the work by synchronising the findings of the work based on 
the research questions and the objectives of the study by generating various themes and giving 
recommendations for policy making. The recommendations are based on the suggestions made by 
respondents to improve the relationship among partners and to improve the crime preventive 
activities.    
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CHAPTER TWO 
REVIEW OF LITERATURE AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 
2.1.1 Introduction 
The prevalence of crime in societies has become alarming that there is a general call on all to 
participate in crime prevention. Participation of different agencies in governance is the 
contemporary trend in crime governance, unlike the early years of civilisation which saw the state 
in Western societies and traditional forms of crime prevention in Africa dominate the market of 
crime prevention. Current research on cooperation among agencies in crime prevention investigate 
how agencies such as the police, the courts, the prisons and any related partners cooperate in 
preventing crime, how resources are generated and managed, the relationship that exists among 
the participating agencies and how they manage to cooperate and overcome the challenges they 
encounter in the process of crime prevention.  
One cannot talk about crime prevention without considering what crime is and the causes of crime. 
Crime is defined as “any human conduct that violates a criminal law and is subject to 
punishment”(Adler, Mueller, Grekul, & Laufer Wiıliam, 2009, p. 12). There are different 
sociological theories which explain the criminal behaviour of people in a society. Some of these 
theories are the strain, cultural deviance and the social control theories. The first two theories are 
still relevant in sociology. The strain theory argues that one of the middle-class values is economic 
success, however, people at the lower level of society are deprived access to those middle-class 
values which causes them to turn to illegitimate means in desperation. Cultural deviance theory 
has two forms: differential association theory argues that people learn to commit crime as a result 
of getting involved with people with antisocial values and attitudes; whereas criminal character 
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and culture conflict theory maintains that different groups of people learn some different conduct 
norms which contradict the acceptable norm of the middle class rules (Adler et al., 2009).    
The nature of crime within societies is classified into three categories: crime against a person, 
offense against property, and offense against the public. Murder, threats, causing harm and assault 
are examples of offenses against a person. Offenses such as theft, robbery and burglary are offenses 
against property (Appiahene-Gyamfi, 2002). There are various factors such as social change which 
affect the occurrence of crime within a society This is because “social change expands commodity 
production and distribution, and increases the occurrence of social contexts favourable for theft by 
providing a vast supply of readily available commodities in environments generally characterized 
by ineffective surveillance” (Appiahene-Gyamfi, 2002, p. 232). Therefore, the growth of society 
and increase in the availability of commodity in a society as a result of social change can increase 
the rate of crime. 
2.1.2 Crime governance: Agencies, their roles and strategies of crime prevention 
Crime is a scare to society, hence there is the need to control it. Crime governance is therefore 
defined as the making and enforcement of rules regarding crime and the delivery of services related 
to crime (Fukuyama, 2013). Governance refers “to the institutional mechanisms through which we 
regulate the public aspects of social and community life” (Pillay, 2008, p. 145). Governance also 
refer to “the regulatory networks of interdependence that characterise social and collective life 
which fall outside the direct responsibility of the state” (Pillay, 2008, p. 145). Security governance 
was assumed to be the responsibility of state agencies. However, crime governance is now 
regarded to be more effective when it goes beyond the police resources or the state resources 
(Cherney, 2004b; Makin & Marenin, 2017; Shaw & Shearing, 1998). There are structures that 
ensure effective crime governance; these are the state and the non-state agencies, and these 
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agencies determine how crime is governed (Baker, 2010). The state was previously known to be 
the sole agency responsible for crime prevention. However, the unrelenting nature of crime has 
ignited another tactic which is  community-oriented policing which involves other agencies 
partnering with the state to ensure security within the community (Makin & Marenin, 2017). Baker 
(2012) however contended that before the state agencies were introduced into Africa, there were 
other agencies (sub-state) that were responsible for crime prevention. 
  
2.1.2.1 Roles of agencies in crime prevention 
Every partner or node has a role to play in the partnership towards crime prevention. Communities 
are involved in identifying, planning, and implementing government programmes (Katsaura, 
2012). The state agencies have the responsibility of securing a safe environment. Abotchie (1999) 
stated the roles of some various agencies both state and other agencies in crime prevention. The 
police service plays roles such as educating the public on crime prevention strategies, community 
patrol to minimize the opportunity of committing crime, and responding to calls of help from the 
community. The primary purpose of the criminal justice system is to punish offenders and to ensure 
that crime does not take place at all, the court acts as a deterrent to crime through the punishment 
meted out to the culprits (Abotchie, 1997; Amtaika, 2010; Metz, 2004). Even though state agencies 
namely the police service and the courts have the primary responsibility for crime prevention or 
crime deterrence, it has been argued that these state agencies will not be effective without support 
from other agencies (Amtaika, 2010). However, Jakobi (2016) espouses that efforts of other 
agencies in crime prevention will not be effective without the firm decision of the state to crime 
prevention but this seems contrary to what the state in African countries do except for the fact that 
he is concerned about the state in global crime governance. The partnering agencies rely on each 
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other to prevent crime, the  agencies help to discover the root causes of crime to prescribe the best 
strategies to stop them (Garland, 2001; Jakobi, 2016). Some other agencies of crime prevention in 
Africa play the role of providing protection, investigation, deter people from committing crime, 
dispute resolution, and punishing offenders. One thing that happened during the colonial period 
was the weakening of the power and authority of other partnering agencies to approve judicial and 
security affairs  (Akpabli-Honu, 2009; Baker, 2012). 
The police in Community-Oriented Policing (COP), which is the partnership between the police 
and the community, is said to have two forms of duties they perform: these are thinking about the 
work and doing the work (Makin & Marenin, 2017). The police think about the work by explaining 
what their roles and responsibilities are, setting priorities, launching goals, appraising performance 
and communicating with the public through formal and informal means. ‘Doing the work’ by the 
police involves activities such as implementation of policies, maintaining social order, policing, 
and exerting social control (Makin & Marenin, 2017). The public in Community-Oriented 
Partnership plays the roles of a consumer, citizen and co-producer — consumers determine what 
the police should bring on  the table but they are inert in decision-making, citizens are co-producers 
and creators in policies and programs and co-producers are equal partners — they all own the 
programs and policies for security insurance (Bryson, Quick, Slotterback, & Crosby, 2013; 
Thomas, 2013).  
The community in the COP also acts as informants to the police, which makes the police effective 
in executing their duties (Makin & Marenin, 2017). This is because the members of the community 
know one another and are aware of the hideouts of criminals within the community and thus can 
expose them for legal apprehension. According to Diphoorn and Berg (2014, p. 425) the private 
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security agencies act as the “eyes and the ears” of the state security agencies, meaning these 
agencies also watch out for the state agencies to help them perform their duties properly.  
2.1.3 Strategies of Crime prevention  
Crime prevention has been described as a constituent of the central problem of society. This is 
because, the presence of crime in every society is a threat to its development and this calls for the 
reduction of crime to the barest minimum (Abotchie, 2008). The best way to implement crime 
prevention policies is to consider the context, understand the ways of thinking and the principles 
underlying the practices of crime (Berg & Shearing, 2011). Crime prevention occurs in different 
ways among people. From the Western perspective,  Hope (1995) for example, identified three 
forms of community crime prevention: community organizing, which is to create an arena in the 
community that would prevent the breeding of delinquent behaviour; tenant involvement also 
involves making policies that would empower house owners or members of the community to take 
responsibility for their safety; and finally resource mobilization, which is concerned with economic 
and political resources to ensure that all the things that could block the youth from achieving their 
aspirations are eliminated. He argues that to effectively prevent crime, it is required that the 
community implement these strategies.  
Capobianco (2006) further acknowledged that crime prevention in a community can take the form 
of developing social and economic measures against crime. These measures could take the form 
of mentoring, employment training, culture and recreational centres. Aside the benefits of social 
development in the youth as a result of sports, the recreational centres also limit criminal activities 
within a community (Cameron & MacDougall, 2000; Felson, 1987). The state can fight crime by 
reducing the economic factors such as unemployment, that encourage people to commit crime. 
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(Metz, 2004). These strategies are meant to eliminate the factors possible to induce crime in the 
community.  
Also, policing and justice method of crime prevention takes the form of night patrols, community 
policing, restorative justice practices and capacity building. Capacity building helps to sustain 
crime prevention strategies. This is expedient because it is necessary to strengthen leadership skills 
and invest in the programs to ensure longevity. Another method of crime prevention is to identify 
“community champions”, who can help maintain communal safety by contributing their leadership 
skills towards decision-making (Capobianco, 2006). 
Another strategy of crime prevention which seems to be an ancient method of crime prevention is 
apprehension. This method prevents offenders from committing crime and deters others from 
committing crime. However recidivism rate is high therefore apprehension even though effective, 
it is not an absolute measure for crime prevention (Abotchie, 2008; Ehrlich, 1972; Pritchard, 1979)   
Africa on the other hand has a different history of crime prevention and therefore, crime prevention 
on the continent needs to be looked at from a different perspective – pre-colonial, colonial, and 
post-colonial. This is to throw light on the nature of crime prevention and how it took shape over 
time (Boege, Brown, & Clements, 2009; Okunola & Ikuomola, 2012). According to Okunola and 
Ikuomola (2012), crime prevention in pre-colonial Africa took the form of traditional dispute 
management councils and crime control mechanisms which were efficient for crime prevention. 
These methods included sanctions, taboos, speech rights, customs or mores, songs, ostracism, 
which altogether constrained people from committing crime (Abotchie, 1997; Okunola & 
Ikuomola, 2012). Colonialism however, introduced the state agencies (the police service and the 
courts) into the African setting; but one thing was certain: they could not get rid of the traditional 
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systems of crime control, hence post colonialism saw in display the state agencies and the other 
partners putting efforts towards crime prevention (Boege et al., 2009; Tade & Olaitan, 2015).  The 
ineffectiveness of the criminal justice system in crime prevention is one of the reasons for the 
active role of the other partnering agencies in crime prevention (Ayodele, 2017; Okunola & 
Ikuomola, 2012). 
Berg and Shearing (2011) argued that crime prevention in South Africa should not be the exclusive 
work of policing and the justice system. Instead, they suggested three design principles to address 
the causal factors that increase the chance of committing crime and limit detection. They first of 
all suggested the limiting of crime  governance through crime to a minimum (to reduce the focus 
of crime prevention from the act of committing crime), insist on governing harm (management of 
the dangers of crime), and reshape the institutional environment within which harm is governed 
and to change the flow of money so that it is channelled to institutions and activities that support 
prevention. They argue that executing these three principles will improve the security sector and 
increase the rate of knowledge, skills, and resources needed for a holistic approach to crime 
prevention. The strategy of making use of all available resources during the 2010 FIFA World Cup 
in South Africa proved to be an effective crime prevention method. All partnering agencies of 
crime prevention were involved in the fight to make the country a safe place for the tournament, 
all the various nodes were connected and giving out their support when needed for the insurance 
of security (Berg & Shearing, 2011). This strategy which was explained as “a whole-of-society 
governance approach was adopted, and this enabled preventative solutions to be realized by 
flexibly linking different nodes together”(Berg & Shearing, 2011, p. 24). But the mind-boggling 
question is, will there be continuity with the crime prevention policies that were instituted? 
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Baker (2012) also noted that one way community members try to prevent crime in Africa is the 
use of the presence of neighbours and family members to deter criminals.   Because currently there 
is a rise in the use of security cameras, whether there are neighbours or family members around or 
not, there is constant surveillance in the communities. His views about “responsibilisation” differ 
from that of Garland (1996) who believes that community members are now being psyched to be 
responsible. He purports that Africans have been responsible for their own safety, they do not 
depend on the criminal justice system because that is what they were doing before the advent of 
the state criminal justice system.  
2.1.4 The Cooperation 
This session examines the cooperative characteristics of agencies. The nodal governance theory 
purports that, “the relationships between nodes of governance are varied and involve cooperative 
alliances” (Shearing & Wood, 2003, p. 404).  
2.1.4.1 Cooperation among agencies 
Rosenbaum (2002, p. 172) noted that there is no one specific definition of partnership, hence he 
defined it as “a cooperative relationship among two or more organizations to achieve some 
common goal”. According to Makin and Marenin (2017), there are different types of partnerships 
and this is based on the conditions of the society which enhance or restrain implementation. 
Partnership is synonymous with cooperation. Therefore, cooperation is the realization that the 
police agency cannot fight crime alone (Makin & Marenin, 2017). In relation to community crime 
prevention, Rosenbaum (2002) noted that prevention, community, cooperation, and problem 
solving are the main characteristics of an effective local government; and community cooperation 
in crime prevention moves beyond the walls of the justice system and centres around the 
community. The cooperative approach to crime prevention has been recognized globally and 
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approved at the 1990 United Nations Congress (UNC). Rosenbaum (2002, p. 173) cited Crawford 
1997 on the emphasis on cooperation by the UNC that crime prevention must bring together those 
with responsibility for planning and development, for family, health, employment and training, 
housing and social services, leisure activities, schools, the police, and the justice system in order 
to deal with the conditions that generate crime.  
Cooperation is essential in crime prevention since crime seems to have become an everyday event 
and it is no longer seen as a deviation from the norm as described by early criminologists, and 
hence policies that are being made require not only the effort of state agencies like the police, the 
courts and the prisons but beyond the state apparatus to various civil society organisations, 
institutions, and individuals in the society (Garland, 1996, p. 451). Various police and social 
control researchers have argued that the police cannot combat crime single-handedly and that they 
will need the help of other departments like social development, education and the local 
government as well as citizens to make the fight against crime easy (Masuku, 2006). 
This multi-agency approach to crime prevention is described as a plural approach because of the 
various partners that are involved in the processes of crime prevention. Shearing and Wood (2003) 
described this new plural approach to crime prevention as “nodal governance”.  Nodal governance 
perceives the state, corporations and non-governmental organisations as responsible for, and 
involved in the governance for security. This relationship has been investigated, which 
acknowledges that the agencies depend on each other for crime governance (Shearing & Wood, 
2003). More so, cooperation can be between state criminal justice agencies or between local 
agencies even though they all operate under the bigger umbrella of the state (Cherney, 2004b). The 
agencies for security provision or crime prevention could fall under the state, the private sector, or 
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from communal groups (Diphoorn & Berg, 2014). These agencies join forces to form a partnership 
which is geared towards crime prevention. 
 
Therefore, there can be diverse forms of cooperation based on who and how it was initiated. One 
form of it is the state police-led cooperation.  This kind is introduced by the police which runs 
down to the community. It organises and supports the community to produce security while 
protecting its goals and interests (Makin & Marenin, 2017). The strategies for the provision of 
security to the society by the police are inadequate — they vouch for the use of legal norms, 
resources and skills which are familiar to them in their partnership but may however not be relevant 
to the situation at hand (Makin & Marenin, 2017). 
Another form of cooperation is the community-centred partnership (the bottom-up partnership). 
This involves societies’ effort to ensure security through cooperation with other informal groups 
such as the vigilante, corporate groups and many more. They make use of resources, skills, societal 
norms and values which are common to them to ensure security in the society. This particular kind 
of cooperation tries to mobilise the police to meet their standard, the community calls the 
shots.(Makin & Marenin, 2017).  
The next form of cooperation is pioneered by international actors who play this role through 
partnering with the police by giving advice, aiding the police, influencing decision-making on 
partnership and causing policy reforms (Makin & Marenin, 2017). Sometimes they skip the police 
and invest in other non-state security teams (Hills, 2014).  
Cooperation can have different stages of operation. Diphoorn and Berg (2014) explained that there 
are six different levels of agency partnership. The first level is the rejection of the very existence 
of other policing agencies by the state police. The second level is the state police accepting other 
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policing agencies reluctantly with defamation. The third stage is characterised by an attitude of 
unfriendliness on the part of the state police for the fact that others are squatting on their activities, 
it is a stage of competition. The fourth level talks about increment in the control measures. The 
fifth stage is called “junior partnership” which is an active partnership among agencies with 
hierarchical status — this stage has the state police as the senior partners and the other agencies as 
the junior partners. The final stage suggests that there should be equal participation where there is 
no hierarchy; every agency enjoys equal status. This is what Shearing (1992) calls plural policing. 
Plural policing can be likened to multi agency policing where different agencies such as the 
community members, religious organisations, business bodies and other security agencies 
(Diphoorn & Berg, 2014) join forces to fight crime. 
Even though different agencies try to come together for the common goal of crime prevention, 
according to Hills (2014), agencies can be together but may not be cooperating but rather they co-
exist. She noted that even though various agencies try to work together they often contest or have 
crashes which make contentions outweigh cooperation. She described this as a metaphor of nodal 
governance. 
Another concept which explains nodal governance is “pluralisation” of governance which is 
explained as the attempt of government to separate or delegate government functions through 
agents and agencies. This idea is also referred to as “multi-lateralisation” which is splitting of 
governance (Shearing & Wood, 2003, p. 403). Therefore, nodal governance involves different 
agencies that have shared roles and responsibilities towards crime prevention. These agencies may 
or may not agree on some issues due to the various interests that they bring to the table of 
partnership. 
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Whereas Western literature on cooperation tries to explain that the act of cooperation is as a result 
of the state deliberately delegating its functions to other agencies to aid in crime prevention, the 
African literature on cooperation explains cooperation in Africa as traditional or local 
organisations’ effort to prevent crime as a result of the ineffectiveness of state agencies (Hills, 
2014; Owumi & Ajayi, 2013; Tade & Olaitan, 2015). In Ghana for instance, the law has made 
provision for the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) by using customary law to resolve 
some cases which can be referred from the courts with the exception of serious cases such as 
defilement, murder, etc. However, as a result of the ineptness of the court system, even these cases 
are settled outside the court (Morhe & Morhe, 2013). The question is, what will be the relationship 
between the court and the group that resolves the case of defilement when the affected parties are 
unsatisfied with the ruling of the ADR and there is the need to transfer the case to the court? 
There are some factors which enhance cooperation. According to Makin and Marenin (2017) the 
nature of a state (whether militant state or civilian), the rate of security or insecurity within the 
society, the organisational and occupational culture of the police service, the past relation between 
the police and the civilian society and finally the gathering of resources and the distribution of 
resources can determine whether partnership thrives or relapses. 
2.1.4.2 The subtleties of cooperation: who leads and who follows the dance? 
Cooperation in crime prevention is hierarchical. The police act as the main force behind crime 
prevention by organizing the rest of the agencies (Hope, 1995; Sanders & Langan, 2018). Shearing 
(1992) believes that there is no hierarchy in partnership, which he calls plural policing and purports 
that there are various agencies that cooperate without equal status. 
This notion of equal status has however been critiqued by Hummer and Nalla (2003) with the 
argument that there are differences in status among the partners albeit blurry. Supporting this 
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argument is the idea that in reality it is quite difficult to locate the instigator of a cooperation but 
an originator has the characteristic of distributing roles, power, and authority in a way that  favours 
their knowledge, skills and interest (Makin & Marenin, 2017). In an African traditional setting of 
cooperation, the king is seen as the one who leads the dance for the rest to follow (Ayodele, 2017).  
 
Whereas the police organise the other agencies, the signature or the authority behind 
implementation of cooperational policies are the political leaders (Goris & Walters, 1999). The 
active participation of the political leaders in crime prevention policies determines the success of 
the cooperation program. An example of the power of local politics in crime prevention is the 
inactive role played by a local politician in Winnipeg: policies could not be implemented 
successfully because the political leader was absent during the partnership meeting for policy 
formulation (Monchalin, 2012).  
Hierarchy is also evident in the roles performed by the various agencies in cooperation. The non-
state agencies act as the eyes and ears of the state agencies, this implies that the non-state agencies 
give out information for the state agencies that are legally empowered to enforce laws to execute 
the needed sanctions (Diphoorn & Berg, 2014). Another interesting fact to note about hierarchy is 
the division of labour among the agencies 
 
2.1.4.3 Relationship among cooperating agencies 
The relationship that exists among nodes or agencies in cooperation is essential in fostering a good 
working spirit among them: a harmonious relationship among nodes is needed to generate a good 
result. Because of this, some governments invest resources into improving the relationship among 
nodes. An example of this is a study conducted in Belgium in 1992 which showed efforts that were 
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made to improve the relationship between the agencies of crime prevention. This is to build a good 
relationship between the police and the residents of the community (Goris & Walters, 1999).  Two 
forms of relationship in controlling crime within a community have been discussed. First is the 
horizontal dimension which has to do with the relationship that exists between members of the 
community. this involves the showing of affection, loyalty and reciprocity among themselves 
(Hope, 1995, p. 23). The vertical dimension which has to do with connection between local 
institutions to sources of power and resources in the bigger society which they are a part of (Hope, 
1995; Rosenbaum, 2002). The vertical relationship ensures that the agencies have all the resources 
and the power they need to achieve their aim, and to execute their duties. Hope (1995) further 
explained that the main means of maintaining order in a community has to do with the horizontal 
dimension but they derive their strength from the larger body which is the vertical dimension. This 
assertion means that, the two versions of relationship are important for crime prevention. The 
harmony among the people and the resources from the top leadership of the society is an important 
strategy to achieve cooperation in crime prevention.  
In support of the horizontal and vertical relationship in cooperation is the benevolent approach to 
the relationship among agencies. Geoffrey Pearson and his colleagues in a research came out with 
the term “benevolent approach” which described the harmony that exists between and within local 
state and the community in crime prevention (Hope, 1995). The relationship that exists among 
agencies can also be collaborative — that is the desire to support each other to achieve the common 
goal of serenity in their communities or an attitude of competition where the private agencies 
encroach on the premises of the public or state agencies in their attempt to prevent crime (Diphoorn 
& Berg, 2014). 
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Another form of relationship that seems to exist in cooperation is what is referred to as “reverential 
relationship”, this is when the private security or community police relate to the state police with 
reverence. The private or other policing agencies also enjoy working with the state police and hope 
to be recognised by them (Diphoorn & Berg, 2014; Hummer & Nalla, 2003). 
2.1.4.4 Importance of cooperation in crime prevention 
As the adage goes: “two heads are better than one”, it is important to collaborate with others in the 
fight against crime. One of the importance of cooperation among agencies is that  it enhances crime 
prevention activities (Ayodele, 2017; Cross, 2016). This is because agencies will bring their 
expertise and experiences in crime prevention to the table. Also, partnership ensures that crime is 
discovered at its root since all facets of agencies are employed from all angles in the society 
(Mutongwizo, Leoschut, & Burton, 2015).  
Even though cooperation in crime prevention is encouraged all over the world, it is more crucial 
in Africa because of its history of crime prevention and because the state agencies are not efficient 
in executing their role of crime prevention.  When the state criminal justice system is supported 
by other partners, they perform better (Ayodele, 2017; Boege et al., 2009). Incorporating the 
community into the partnership allows individuals to take responsibility of the areas they live in 
and also act as informants to the police by reporting criminal issues to the police for further 
investigation (Ayodele, 2017; Cross, 2016; Goris & Walters, 1999).  
Cooperation among partners has another advantage, which is improvement in the relationship 
between residents of the community and the police (Ayodele, 2017; Goris & Walters, 1999). This 
kind of studies reiterate the “responsibilisation” concept of the role of the members of the 
community in governance (Garland, 1996; Hope, 1995). Another reason why cooperation is 
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relevant to crime prevention is because it can increase the skills, knowledge and understanding of 
all the partners involved in the crime prevention process. Also, cooperation ensures that indigenous 
knowledge is respected and acknowledged in governance, enabling the criminal justice system to 
be effective (Ayodele, 2017).  
Prinsloo (1998) argued that, even though the traditional system of resolving criminal cases could 
be problematic, the importance of the traditional system cannot be downplayed. It is believed that, 
the “state ... can divert some formalized structures to include alliances with more flexible and 
informal arenas where dialogue to settle a wide range of conflict situations can find its rewards” 
(Prinsloo, 1998, p. 78). Therefore, cooperation can help to delegate some roles to other agencies 
to improve the efficacy of the agencies in crime prevention (Ayodele, 2017, p. 934). In Ubuntu 
located in South Africa, there are traditional courts which aid in the adjudicating of criminal cases. 
The judicial courts divert criminal cases that are not serious to the traditional courts to reduce the 
load of cases to be handled and to attend to more serious cases (Schoeman, 2012). This is an act 
of sharing responsibility among nodes, which makes the community people have easier access to 
the justice system and justice products.  
Moreover, an interview conducted in South Africa indicated that some traditional leaders in 
Moletji consulted the police in issues relating to crime, and there were times that the police also 
took their services to the door step of the community. This act of cooperation enables various 
nodes to work towards the common goal of crime prevention (Tshehla, 2005). Communities are 
safer to live in when all the partners involved in crime prevention perform their duties well 
(Ayodele, 2017). 
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 Record-keeping is one of the challenges that institutions encounter in Africa. However, 
cooperation among agencies will also make the activities of the non-state agencies documentable, 
and further enrich the state agencies by improving their public perception and increase public 
respect and confidence for it. The cooperation will also strengthen public participation in crime 
control, since the public can now trust to work with them (Ayodele, 2017, p. 934). 
Cooperation according to Katsura (2012) can also be beneficial by making the state agencies 
responsible and accountable and minimises cost of crime prevention. This is essential because the 
distribution of resources will be monitored by other agencies ensuring that resources are not 
misappropriated.  
2.1.4.5 Resource mobilization and distribution towards crime prevention 
The theory of nodal governance purports that, “nodes govern by mobilizing their resources and 
governing technologies to cajole, coerce or otherwise move those they wish to govern to comply 
with their directions” (Burris et al., 2005, p. 14). Therefore, crime governance also involves 
resource distribution among nodes or cooperating agencies towards crime prevention. Funds 
towards crime prevention are sometimes donated by business corporations through the police for 
distribution (Amtaika, 2010).  According to Amtaika (2010) resource distribution causes 
management challenges to the police service, and to improve management, the police must 
consider how and where resource is allocated by consulting the community. It is however 
important to note that an examination of the distributive effect of resources of the various agencies, 
not only one of them like Amtaika (2010) considered, would help appreciate how all agencies are 
challenged in their bid to function in crime prevention as this research sought to do. 
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Where do the agencies receive the resources from for distribution towards crime prevention? The 
administrative role of the government is to ensure that there is serenity in the society for socio-
economic activities. Therefore, it is the major responsibility of the state to invest resources into 
crime prevention; however, there are some foreign investors who release funds to support the 
activities of some non-state agencies towards crime prevention (Plessis & Louw, 2005). The 
question then is how are funds distributed among the non-state agencies or when foreign investors 
decide to support an agency’s activities towards crime prevention?  
Aside the resources generated from the government or state and foreign investors, there are also 
internally generated funds. These funds are generated from local economic activities that 
community organisations engage in, for example, revenue tax from local markets and  through 
waste collection (Cross, 2016). 
2.1.4.6 Contestation among agencies of cooperation 
There are tensions that evolve when various agencies collaborate even though the primary goal for 
the convergence of these agencies is to fight for a good cause. Rosenbaum (2002, p. 189) 
acknowledged that a “cooperation’s greatest strength is its greatest weakness; namely the diversity 
of agencies and constituencies represented, and therefore, the diversity of views and orientations 
to social problems that must be negotiated to reach decisions”. There is a mix of personnel from 
different agencies with different agendas (Goris & Walters, 1999), hence there will be 
disagreements on some issues under discussion.  
In the quest to solve the problem of crime, the ideas of the various participants conflict,  hence 
Rosenbaum (2002) noted that since different agencies are involved in the cooperation for crime 
prevention, conflict is inevitable among the various parties. Shearing and Wood (2003, p. 405) 
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also acknowledged that, “while state and non-state nodes operate under different cooperative 
arrangements … it is also the case that nodes can operate in benign neglect of one another, or in 
forms of outright conflict”. An example of this conflict is the conflicts between citizens and the 
police in the quest of the police to find a criminal. The police think that the citizens do not respect 
them whiles the citizens also posit that the police do not explain their actions to them (Lundman, 
1980). This is an example of conflicts among multi-agency structures (Crawford & Jones, 1993; 
Lundman, 1980). There are instances where the police regard “traditional individual and client-
centered approach to their work as community problematic” (Crawford & Jones, 1995, p. 23).  
There are also power struggles among the agencies. These are struggles that exist in the crime 
prevention process (Crawford & Jones, 1993). Goris and Walters (1999) believe that the tension 
among the cooperating partners could be as a result of “power struggle over control, resources, 
ownership and management” (Goris & Walters, 1999, p. 634). They also acknowledged that even 
though cooperation is beneficial, challenges like local politics affect the efficiency of partnership. 
Katsaura (2012) also observed that conflicts among nodes are generated from struggle for political 
legitimacy, power, control of and access to knowledge and economic resources. An example of 
how local politics can affect cooperation is the research conducted by Monchalin (2012) which 
discusses how various organizations and groups in Winnipeg were present for a policy formulation 
for crime prevention. He however, discovered that the policies were not implemented because the 
mayor was not present at the conference. All other agencies were present but the absence of the 
mayor affected the effectiveness of the other agencies (Monchalin, 2012). This same method was 
initiated in Edmonton and according to Monchalin (2012), it succeeded because the mayor was 
present. 
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Aside the conflict of local politics, power, economic resources, knowledge, among others, Katsura 
(2012) also espoused that the struggle for prestige and honour could also cause conflict among 
agencies. This kind of struggle could be among individual actors within the various agencies who 
are searching for fame. Another important factor which also causes contestation among agencies 
is resources (Katsaura, 2012). Resources can create conflict among agencies when the revenue 
generated is not suspiciously allocated. 
According to Tade and Olaitan (2015), the root cause of conflict or contestation among the 
agencies in Africa is rooted in the imported state agencies. Conflicts among the traditional agencies 
and the state agencies evolve because the state agencies have been imported and imposed on the 
people and do not totally cater for the crime problems of the people (Ayodele, 2017; Tade & 
Olaitan, 2015). Foreign agencies were made for the English to control its citizens and cannot be 
generalized. Hence despite the presence and efforts of these foreign agencies to control crime, the 
traditional agencies still operate because of the inability of the state agencies to effectively manage 
crime, and also because of  people’s desire for cheap and quick justice (Tade & Olaitan, 2015). 
One thing that persists is the inability of these agencies to come to terms and work as a team. An 
example of this conflict among state agencies and the traditional agencies is seen in an interview 
conducted in South Africa where some members of the traditional council believed that the police 
service was not handling some criminal cases justly. For instance, they said that some of the 
punishments meted out to criminals were below the belt. Some of the respondents also commented 
that the fault was not from the police but rather from the Judicial Service (the court) for releasing 
the people on bail when they have not served their sentences (Tshehla, 2005). Another tension 
among agencies is the police giving out information out to culprits after informants give 
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information to them. This happened in a town in Imo state where identities of informants were 
revealed to the culprits who ended up assaulting the informants (Baker, 2004).  
2.1.4.7 Conflict resolution 
 Even though tensions ensue among the various participants, these participants find ways to settle 
their differences and move on towards achieving their set goals. Agencies consult both formal and 
informal means in settling tensions, communication is encouraged among the various agencies to 
ease any form of conflict that may exist.  (Cherney, 2004b).  
While Crawford and Jones (1993) argued that power creates conflicts between the various agents 
of crime prevention, Giddens (1984) believes that power ensures that things are done. Power 
struggle among multi-agencies leads to creativity of strategies to overcome the various challenges 
that exist among the multi-agencies that inhibit the attainment of goals (Crawford & Jones, 1995). 
2.1.5. Reflections on the Literature 
The literature on Western societies has revealed that crime prevention is not an activity that should 
be governed solely by state agencies because of the dangerous nature of crime within a community. 
Africa on the other hand had experienced the operation of non-state agencies in crime prevention 
before the advent of foreign agencies of crime prevention. This calls for the involvement of other 
civil agencies which are the non-state agencies to cooperate with the state agencies in crime 
prevention. These various agencies have their specific roles they perform towards crime prevention 
while supporting each other. The literature revealed that there is a hierarchy among agencies which 
determines who calls the shots and the flow of resources among the agencies. This determines how 
resources are generated by the various agencies towards crime prevention within a community. 
Whiles agencies are cooperating, there are tensions that arise as a result of power struggles and the 
allocation of resources. The literature on crime prevention in Ghana focused on crime control, 
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public cooperation with the police, police effectiveness and police trustworthiness and the fear of 
crime. The focus was not on co-operation among agencies. 
2.2 Theoretical framework: Nodal Governance 
2.2.1 Introduction 
“Theories carefully outline the precise definitions in a specific domain to explain why and how 
the relationships are logically tied so that the theory gives specific predictions.” (Wacker, 1998, p. 
363) This implies that, theory is the lens through which the research problem is examined, and it 
also guides the research work (Roberts, 2010). This research therefore deploys the Nodal 
Governance Theory as espoused by Sherring and Wood to demonstrate how agencies cooperate to 
manage crime in a system (Shearing & Wood, 2003). 
Advocates of Nodal Governance Theory argue that, various agencies that exist in a social system 
interconnectedly work together among themselves to manage and govern the system they live in 
(Burris et al., 2005, p. 5). Nodes are outcome-generating systems which produce results through 
interaction. Results could be problems or goods; the problems could be grief, shoddy goods, 
violence, depression.; while goods can be joy, happiness, peace, economic efficiency (Burris et 
al., 2005). This framework espouses that there are various participants within the social system, 
like the government and other partnering agencies, working together in the prevention and 
regulation of crime. The partnering agencies are made up of business corporations and non-
governmental agencies. The “relationship between nodes of governance are varied and involve 
cooperative alliances as well as various forms of contestation”(Shearing & Wood, 2003, p. 104). 
Partnering nodes have the tendency of functioning in ways to support each other; nodes can 
seemingly act in ways that create conflict (Shearing & Wood, 2003, pp. 405-406). Nodes or 
agencies have the potential of conflicting because of the different interests that they all bring on 
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board (Katsaura, 2012). This purports that, in any social system (which could be a community), 
there exist all forms of agencies which work together by bringing their expertise on board to run 
the affairs of the system they inhabit.  
The term “nodes” represents the various entities or bodies within the social system, who contribute 
their unique perspectives, experiences, and resources in the attempt to solve problems and 
influence the activities within the social system (Wood et al., 2011, p. 1). It can also be used 
interchangeably with “agencies” or “actors” within a community. 
Governance, as used in Nodal Governance Theory is explained as the management of the activities 
that take place within a society (Burris et al., 2005, p. 2). This framework indicates that nodes 
within the society look for methods, strategies and resources to influence and control the activities 
that occur within the society.  
 Nodes exhibit the characteristics of governance by gathering resources and implementing 
strategies such as governing technologies to cajole, coerce or otherwise move the people they 
intend to govern to comply with their directions (Burris et al., 2005, p. 14). These nodes can 
employ strategies such as rules, threats, social pressure, and stigma to enforce compliance from 
those who are subject to them. For effective governance, it is important to organise and focus on 
local knowledge and capacity: the main virtue of nodal governance (Shearing & Wood, 2003, p. 
400). This theoretical framework is relevant to the study in Asesewa, because Asesewa has a 
variety of agencies such as the police service, the judicial system (the court), the District Security 
Committee, the Assembly Members, Unit Committee Members, Dademantse Union, the task 
force, and the School Management Committee (SMC), which are altogether responsible for crime 
prevention. These agencies or nodes work in a social system which can be related to Asesewa by 
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networking among themselves.  With regards to governance, the social actors or agencies available 
in Asesewa manage resources towards crime prevention in the town. 
 Again, nodal governance can enhance and limit democracy by ensuring that the pool of 
participation is improved, and decision-making is up to standard. This is because all agencies select 
the best agents to represent them during meetings for policy-making and also, they would want to 
put in their best to receive some honour (Burris et al., 2005). Another feature of nodes is that, they 
vary in their mode of governance, and this may be as a result of the availability of resources, 
technologies and the mentalities of nodes. Thus, the agencies in Asesewa have different methods 
of crime prevention based on their experiences and the resources at their disposal (Burris et al., 
2005).      
In exploring the relationships that exist among the nodes, the flow of resources among the nodes 
and the way in which they support each other have been examined. Another form of relationship 
that exists in nodal governance is the flow of regulation among the nodes: how regulation flows 
among the agencies (Shearing & Wood, 2003). However, local nodes can regulate state agencies, 
which make the state agencies feel responsible and accountable (Katsaura, 2012) to the society.  
The image below is a structure of a nodal governance 
 
 
 
 
 
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Figure 1: Image of a Nodal Governance 
The The 
Court Police The 
Alternative 
Dispute 
Resolution 
The 
District 
Assembly 
The 
Assembly 
Member 
The Unit 
Committee 
The 
Members 
Traditional 
Authorities   
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CHAPTER THREE 
3.1 RESEARCH METHODS 
3.1. Introduction 
This chapter outlines the processes that were employed for conducting the research. The study 
area, sampling methods, instruments for data collection, data analysis, ethical consideration and 
limitations of the study are all discussed. The reasons that accounted for the choice of the 
techniques, the methods and participants have also been explained.  
3.1.1 Research Design  
The study employed a qualitative approach. The qualitative research enabled the researcher to 
understand the people and the social setting that was being studied. It also allowed the people being 
studied to explain their values with regards to the research that was being undertaken because their 
experiences were relevant to the proposed study.  Again, since the proposed research intended to 
understand the strategies engaged by various agencies in crime prevention and how they co-
operate, it was expedient to use a qualitative method (Van den Hoonaard, 2012). The research 
further used qualitative approach to gather information that underlie the phenomena of partnership 
in crime prevention (Roberts, 2010).  
Another method which was used was direct and indirect participant observation. Participant 
observation is the use of different strategies by the researcher to study a group in its setting by 
observing and participating in the activities that they undertake (Hagan, 2012). The direct 
observation made room for the researcher to sit in an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) 
session to observe how cases are arbitrated when offloaded from the legal session of the court. The 
indirect observation involved the careful observation of activities that happened on the scene of 
the interview. The Indirect observation was used at the Police station and at the District Assembly. 
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At the police station, the cell and activities at the police station was observed to add more 
information to what was given by the respondents. 
3.2 Study Area 
Asesewa, which is the focal point of this study is part of the two hundred and sixteen districts in 
Ghana and is the administrative capital of the Upper Manya District of the Eastern region of Ghana. 
The town is a semi-urban community with a population of about 18,000.  Famous for the most 
patronized market in the region and beyond, Asesewa attracts people from different parts of Ghana 
who engage in trading activities covering all sorts of agricultural products such as plantain, 
cassava, beans, fish, maize, yams, pepper, tomatoes, among others.  
The town has a growing economy with a police station, a court, a hospital, a secondary school, a 
rural bank and a few micro finance companies. There are various agencies responsible for crime 
prevention aside the police and the court. These are the District Security Committee (DISEC) 
which is made up of the District Chief Executive (DCE) as the Chair, a representative from the 
police service who is the secretary,  a representative of the Assemblymen,  Unit Committee 
Members (UCM) and a representative from the traditional council, the task force committee 
members, Dademantse Union, and the School Management Committee (SMC) who also contribute 
to crime prevention by working with the leaders of the community to ensure that programs which 
could breed crime in the town are controlled.  
Asesewa was chosen as the study area because it has all the necessary features required in a nodal 
governance — the Police, the Courts, the District Assembly, District Security Committee 
(DISEC), the Assembly Members, Unit Committee Members (UCM), the School Management 
Committee, the Dademantse Union, and the Alternative Dispute Resolution centre (Shearing & 
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Wood, 2003). Aside the fact that Asesewa has the characteristics for a nodal governance study, it 
is convenient for the researcher for data collection purposes since understanding the language of 
the people is an advantage. See appendix III for a map of the district. 
3.2.1 Geographical location 
Asesewa is a Krobo town located in the Eastern Region of Ghana and is the district capital of the 
Upper Manya District. It is surrounded by villages such as Odometa, Brepaw, and Ayawaso. The 
area is dominantly occupied by the Krobos and then a section is allocated to the Muslims; an area 
called the “Zongo”. There are other ethnic groups such as the Akans and the Ewes who are in the 
minority as compared to the Hausa people. The geographical location is relevant to this study 
because it determines the culture of the people and their perceptions of crime and crime prevention 
and whether cooperation among agencies is necessary. Geographical location also determines the 
rate of crime within a community.  
3.2.2 Political Administration 
The political administration of Asesewa can be described as both statutory and traditional. This is 
because the area consists of both governmental bodies of decision-making which are represented 
by the District Assembly and the traditional forms of decision-making represented by the various 
chiefs (Huber, 1963). The District Chief Executive is the political leader in the District, however 
there are Assembly Members, Unit Committee Members, and the chiefs who also leaders of the 
community. The political administration determines which people are responsible for crime 
prevention in the community. There are hierarchies within the community, and this determines the 
role the various partners play within the community.   
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3.2.3 Economic Activities  
Asesewa is mainly an agrarian community: the people engage in crop and livestock rearing. They 
cultivate crops such as maize, beans, cassava, cocoyam, pepper, tomatoes, cassava, and plantain. 
Animals such as goats, sheep, cattle and fowls are also reared to generate money (Angmor, 2012).  
Trading is another major economic activity that the people engage in. Because of the market in the 
community, most of the people, especially the women participate in petty trading activities for 
instance buying of food items from neighbouring villages and selling to the middlemen from the 
bigger cities like Accra, Koforidua, and Cape Coast etc. Trading is mainly undertaken by women 
while the men usually  go into farming (Huber, 1963). Some people also engage in food processing 
activities such as gari processing, alcoholic beverage distilling, palm oil extraction, fish smoking, 
etc. 
Aside this major economic activity, the area also has some institutions such as a hospital, a 
financial institution and educational institutions which also serve as means of employment to other 
people (Angmor, 2012). 
The economic activities which take place in Asesewa is an attraction force for various people 
within the community. As Appiahene-Gyamfi (2002) indicated, that social change has caused an 
increase in the production of commodities. This acts as a catalyst for the surge in criminal activities 
within the society, breeding new criminal acts such as burglary. The increase in economic activities 
in the community has affected the rate of crime in the community, breeding more crime against 
property such as petty theft of goods and domestic animals. 
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3.2.4 Social Life and Residential Assemblage 
The structural principle of a Krobo community is basically patrilineal. This simply means that a 
child enjoys the right to inherit his father’s property and has responsibilities to perform as the child 
of the house (Huber, 1963). The family makeup within a household includes members of the 
extended family, grandparents, parents, uncles and cousins. They perform “Dipo” as a puberty rite 
for their young girls to prepare them for marriage. Unlike the Ga’s, the marriage of the Krobos is 
such that the woman lives on the same compound with the man (Huber, 1963).   
There are other ethnic groups among the Krobos in Asesewa (Hausa, Ewe, Akan etc). The Hausa 
people in the area also see themselves as Krobos: “the people of the land”. From the interview 
conducted, one of the respondents who has been in Asesewa for seven years calls himself “a child 
of the land”. This is because they learn to speak the Krobo language and they take up leadership 
roles within the community.  
3.2.5 Religious System 
There are three religious beliefs practiced in Asesewa. Majority of the people are Christians with 
the minority being Muslims. There are few traditionalists in the community, hence the two 
dominant religions are Christianity and Islam. There are various Christian denominations within 
the community — Catholic, Charismatic churches and the protestants like Baptist, Presbyterians, 
and Methodists. The Kokonbas also have their mosque in the Zongo. These religious organisations 
serve as a good avenue for creating awareness on security in the community. The various agencies 
acknowledged the fact that they visit Churches to educate people to be conscious of criminal 
offenders and their schemes.  
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3.3 Population of the Study 
The target population for the study are people connected to the agencies of crime prevention in 
Asesewa:  the police, the court, the District Assembly, the chiefs, School Management Committee 
(SMC), the Unit Committee Members (UCM), Assembly Members, the Task Force and the 
Alternative Dispute Resolution centre. These population have been selected because they are 
responsible for crime prevention within the community and were qualified to give the necessary 
information needed for the study. 
3.4 Sample Size 
The sample size for the study was sixteen respondents from the various agencies of crime 
prevention. The sample size is supported by the Information Power Concept, which says that a 
qualitative study requires a small number of respondents with in-depth knowledge on the problem 
under study (Malterud, Siersma, & Guassora, 2016).  The following people were engaged in the 
study: a police officer in charge of crime in Asesewa, the registrar at the court, six assembly 
members, one respondent from the District Assembly who is the Chairman for the District Security 
Committee, one respondent from the Alternative Dispute Resolution centre (ADR), one respondent 
from the task force, the Chairman of the school Management Committee, the chairman of the 
Dademantse Union, the Zongo Chief and two Unit Committee Members.  
Table 1: Tabular Representation of Respondents 
Agency Number of Respondents 
District Assembly One (1) 
The Police One (1) 
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The Court One (1) 
The Assembly members Six (6) 
Unit Committee Members Two (2) 
The Task Force One (1) 
Alternative Dispute Resolution centre One (1) 
The School Management Committee One (1) 
The Dademantse Union  Two (2) 
 
3.5 Sampling procedure 
The sampling was a non-probability sampling since it is a qualitative study (Schutt, 2011). To get 
the information needed for the phenomenon under study the researcher deployed purposive and 
snowball sampling methods to aid in the selection of the population relevant to the study. 
Purposive sampling is when the researcher selects respondents based on the research needs or the 
researcher’s judgement (Hagan, 2012). It was used to sample the District Chief Executive, police 
respondent and the court registrar because they are directly linked to the research problem and they 
were easy to locate. 
Snowball sampling technique was employed in choosing the rest of the informants. Snowball 
sampling is when (Bachman & Schutt, 2013; Schutt, 2011) “an investigator uses this strategy, to 
locate initial participants and then asks them if they know anyone who fits the criteria and who 
might be interested in participating in the study” (Van den Hoonaard, 2012, p. 108). The snowball 
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method was used to recruit the Assembly Members and the Unit Committee Members. With this 
method, the researcher went to one of the Assembly Members, who informed the other Assembly 
and Unit Committee members of the study on phone. With their consent, the Assembly Member 
gave the researcher directions to the   leader of the Task Force, the Unit Committee Members, the 
Dademantse and the other Assembly Members. The registrar at the court also introduced the ADR 
Committee member to the researcher.  
3.6 Instrument for Data Collection 
A semi-structured interview guide was used to direct the researcher in the topical areas to cover 
and also helped give directions to the answers of respondents (Van den Hoonaard, 2012). The 
semi-structured interview guide was essential because it gave the interview its focus, and the 
researcher was able to direct respondents to the theme of discussion any time they veered off the 
theme for discussion. For example, one of the respondents was trying to talk about sanitation, 
which was not part of the objectives of the study. He was gently reminded of the purpose of the 
study so as not to offend him since he was an elderly person. The in-depth interview ensured that 
all information that was considered trivial were captured in the interview. And the semi-structured 
interview ensured that the researcher probed for further explanations to answers that were provided 
to the questions.  
3.7 Data Handling and Management 
During the data collection, the interviews were recorded, and field notes were taken. The Data was 
translated from Krobo into English after collection and transcribed afterwards. The language 
translation was made easy due to the researcher’s ability to speak and write Krobo.  Data was 
coded for easy interpretation (Wincup, 2017). Open coding was used to begin the coding. Open 
coding, according to Van den Hoonaard (2012) is about labelling the themes found in the data 
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from the field. The open coding is to provide broad themes for the data. The themes were narrowed 
by using the focused method coding to bring out specific themes from the broad themes. The 
researcher therefore used the open coding method to code the objectives and later deduced sub-
themes from the open codes. 
Data analysis took the form of thematic analysis, focusing on themes that were generated from the 
research objectives. The data was written out by consulting the literature to make connections with 
similar themes in the literature.    
3.8 Ethical Consideration 
Codes of ethics describe how researchers should conduct themselves and ensure that they produce 
a good work whilst fulfilling their obligation with the participants (Bachman & Schutt, 2013; 
Wincup, 2017). Ethical consideration is essential in research since the research concerns the life 
of people, and especially since the issue of security is a sensitive topic and people will not easily 
trust the researcher to give out information to him/her. Hence before the data was collected, ethical 
clearance was sought from the University of Ghana Ethical Clearance Committee for Humanities 
(ECH). The field work was done after the requirements of ECH were met and permission was 
granted. Also, an introductory letter was obtained from the Department which made it easy for me 
to introduce myself to the respondents. I introduced myself and showed the introductory letter to 
all the respondents to assure them that the exercise was purely academic.  
I was able to familiarise myself with the respondents even though the topic is a sensitive one and 
people would not want to comment on it, lest, they reveal some vital information to the researcher. 
I gained their trust and they were willing to give me the information I needed. Some of the things 
that were considered as ethical are seen below: 
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3.8.1 Securing consent: I informed participants about the purpose of the research and told them 
that it was solely for academic purposes. I also informed them that the information that they would 
give could inform policies on crime prevention. They therefore trusted me and hoped that indeed 
the result of the work would help overcome their agencies encounter.  
3.8.2 Voluntary participation: The researcher informed the respondents that participation was 
voluntary, and that they could decide to pull out whenever they felt uncomfortable. However, no 
one pulled out of the interview; they all willingly participated, and I didn’t need to coerce or cajole 
anyone. 
3.8.3. Confidentiality: the researcher assured participants of confidentiality. They were also 
assured that their information would be in safe hands. To achieve this, there will be a password to 
the information that they would produce which would only be known to the researcher and 
supervisors. However, some of the respondents were bold enough to tell me that they were not 
afraid of anyone knowing that they gave out that information. 
3.8.4 Privacy and anonymity: The researcher sought to protect the identity of future respondents. 
They were assured that their names would not be included in the thesis, and as such they could 
decide not to provide their names during the interview. Pseudonyms were used. Some said that 
they did not mind their names being included in the thesis.  
3.9. The Data Collection  
The data collection was successful with only a few challenges. The dominant language that was 
used was English since all the respondents were educated. However, the Krobo language was used 
when the researcher perceived that the question being asked would be best understood when asked 
in Krobo. The interviews were conducted at the various places where the respondents were found. 
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The respondent from the police service was at the police station, the respondent from the court was 
interviewed at the court whiles the other respondents were met at their various workplaces. The 
researcher observed that, all the respondents seemed enthused about the assignment because they 
saw the researcher as a young lady from their community who had risen to that level and had 
returned to undertake this assignment. The researcher was also surprised at the seriousness they 
attached to the interview even though they were informed that there would be no financial 
remuneration.   
Another surprising behaviour that was shown by some of the respondents was that they were eager 
to mention their names even though the researcher told them their names were not required. Others 
were bold to say that they were not scared of anyone, and that they did not mind who read 
information they were giving out. 
The respondent from the court gave the information with practical life examples and cases that 
happened at another place he had worked at previously. Some respondents registered their 
displeasure at the habits of other partners which seemed personal but were confident to let the 
researcher know that, they wanted every information recorded and published. Some went to the 
extent of asking if they were being recorded, thinking that the researcher might judge some of their 
inputs as unnecessary for recording.   
There was also an observation session where the researcher was given the chance to witness how 
dispute resolution is conducted by the Alternative Dispute Resolution centre.   
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3.10. Limitations to the Study 
There were some limitations that were encountered during the data collection. One was that the 
sample size seemed too small and therefore might not cover everybody’s view of crime prevention 
in the town.  
The researcher foresaw the access to information becoming a limitation since security is a sensitive 
topic. There was the fear of being denied information, however, the researcher managed to 
convince and assure the respondents that the information that would be provided is secure because 
they will be anonymous. The participants therefore willingly gave the information without 
hesitation. The researcher wanted to send an introductory letter from the department to the various 
offices and then return to Accra to work on the data collection instrument, but the supervisor 
suggested that when submitting the letters, the instrument must be carried along— her advice was 
heeded to. The respondents were readily available to grant the interview after being told the content 
of the letter, except one respondent from the District Assembly who was busy and rescheduled for 
another time. This posed a delay in the gathering of the information and led to a waste of financial 
resources. 
Another limitation was that, most of the respondents had their businesses at the economic centre 
(The Market) therefore most of them were found at their business centres and agreed to grant the 
interview there. This gave room for interruptions from people passing by. Some respondents sent 
the researcher to quiet places while others granted the interviews in their stores, and some in their 
offices. The researcher, however, overcame the challenge by subtly informing intruders that the 
subject of their contributions was not the focus and humbly ignoring their replies to the questions.  
 
  
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CHAPTER FOUR 
DATA ANALYSES AND DISCUSSIONS 
4.1 Introduction 
The general objective of this study was to investigate the cooperation among the various partnering 
agencies of crime prevention in Asesewa and to find out whether in the process of cooperation 
there are contestations among the agencies. 
This chapter discusses the findings of the research using qualitative thematic analysis to discuss 
the major themes of the study generated from the objectives of the study which were deduced with 
the aid of related literature. The discussions start with the analysis of the demographic data, 
followed by the themes generated from the objectives that is to identify the partnering agencies, 
their roles and specific contributions to crime prevention in Asesewa. The researcher also identifies 
the approaches and strategies employed by all the partnering agencies in crime prevention, the 
factors underpinning cooperation or contestations, the implications of these for crime prevention, 
and the relationship that exists among agencies. The researcher then determines how resources are 
mobilized, harnessed and utilized by the various agencies in crime prevention and makes 
suggestions on how to improve the relationship among agencies to prevent and manage crime in 
Asesewa. 
4.2 Socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents 
The socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents are important because they inform the 
response participants give to the interview (Saa, 2018). The participants were suitable for the study 
because they were made up of diverse socio-cultural characteristics, and this was required for 
representativeness in the population. In this study, the socio-demographic characteristics of the 
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respondents focused on the age, the sex, level of education, affiliated agency and the number of 
years they have worked with the agencies. 
4.2.1 Age of respondents 
The age of respondents is relevant to the study because it indicates how long they have stayed in 
the community and their understanding of the changing trends of crime in the community and of 
the various strategies being used to prevent crime. The age of the respondents ranges from thirty 
to sixty-five. The responses that were given was an evidence that they had experience when it 
comes to the issue of crime prevention in Asesewa. The ages of respondents were categorised into 
four: 46% of the respondents were between 30 and 45 years old; 40% were between 46 and 55 
years old; 7% were between 56 and 65 years old; and 7% were between 65 and 75 years old.  
4.2.2 Sex 
The respondents that were available for the interview were all male. This is because the researcher 
was focused on interviewing people who were in leadership positions in the various agencies, and 
the people that were directly involved and in charge of the various agencies were all males.  
4.2.3 Educational level of respondents 
All the respondents had some level of education. 25% of them held Middle School Leaving 
Certificates, 33% held Senior Secondary School Certificates and 40% held tertiary level 
certificates. Because all the respondents had some level of education, they understood well the 
roles of the agencies they represented and what was required of them as members of the various 
agencies. Their responses to the interview questions indicated that their levels of education 
impacted their view of crime, crime prevention, co-operation and contestation in Asesewa.  This 
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reduced the stress in the data collection process because, most of them were able to express 
themselves in English clearly, with only a few having challenges. 
4.2.4 Number of Years Respondents Worked with Agencies 
The positions that the respondents occupied were not permanent except that of the Dademantse. 
The number of years they have worked with their agencies may have affected their views of co-
operation and contestation among the various agencies. This is because some members of the 
agencies are voted into power every four years.  Majority of the participants had been with the 
various agencies for a short time. Nonetheless, the respondents were knowledgeable about the 
matters of their various agencies and this was evident in the answers they provided to the questions. 
80% of the respondents had worked with their agencies for 0 to 6 years, 7% had worked with their 
agencies for 7 to 12 years, and 13% had worked with their agencies for 13 to 20 years.  
4.3. The Nature and Scope of Crime in Asesewa 
Asesewa, like any other town has some level of criminal activities present in the community 
(Witte, 2001a). The literature indicated that social change has caused an increase in the production 
of commodities, which influences the rate of crime within a community especially theft 
(Appiahene-Gyamfi, 2002).  The nature of crime in Asesewa, from the crime statistics which was 
presented by the Police Service in the town, indicated that theft is the most committed offence. 
This has confirmed the assertion in the literature that social change increases the production of 
commodities which impacts the rate of crime in the community for instance theft. The responses 
from participants also indicated that petty theft is rampant in the town, however, there are new 
criminal activities such as burglary and juveniles committing defilement. 
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 Participants’ responses on the rate of crime in the town varied Some respondents compared the 
crime situation in Asesewa to other communities, saying that “crime is low in Asesewa as 
compared to other places” (Mr. Kwasi).  
From the study, the most common offense in the community is theft of domestic animals such as 
goats and fowls that can be traded in the market. It can be deduced that the presence of the market 
in the community exposes the properties of community members to the danger of theft. The excerpt 
below is the narrative of a respondent: 
Crime is very low compared to other places. Examples petty theft, you will only hear 
someone stealing goat, fowl, and they will announce. It was formerly that they use to go for 
the motorbikes but now that thing has even ceased, the motorbike thing has ceased [Mr. 
Djaba] 
Crime in Asesewa is not alarming. The crime statistics proved that offenses against a person for 
example murder and assault are not a threat to the community; they are rare cases. Therefore, since 
petty theft is the dominating offence, the nature of crime in Asesewa can be said to be manageable. 
Mr Mate, the respondent from the District Assembly replied that, “Crime rate is moderate and 
manageable. You cannot have any society that does not have crime at all. It is very difficult to 
come across such a society because, there will be people who have some amount of mischief, and 
so it is not a terrible situation. It is manageable” … [Mr.Mate] 
However, one respondent believed that crime rate was high. Upon further probing, his explanation 
was that since crimes which were not common in the community are becoming the norm, it means 
crime is high. The respondent was asked what he meant by that, and his response is seen in the 
narrative below: “It is increasing, for example, breaking into people’s homes. It doesn’t mean that 
it is alarming, but something that was not previously so but now increasing” … [Mr. Nobi] 
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4.3.1 Criminal offenses in Asesewa 
 For Owumi and Ajayi (2013), crime is prevalent in every society and Asesewa is not an exception. 
There are peculiar criminal acts which are common to some particular areas (Appiahene-Gyamfi, 
2002). All the three types of criminal offenses (offense against a person, offense against property 
and offense against the public) are present in Asesewa, however, crime against property dominates. 
The literature indicated that theft increases as social change occurs within a society. Therefore 
Asesewa as the economic centre of the District is faced with this dilemma. This is evident from 
the crime statistics from the police department and the court.  However, crimes such as burglary 
and juveniles committing defilement are becoming a threat to the community.  
Another crime which is becoming alarming in the community is the destruction of farm products 
by the cattle of the Fulani Herdsmen. This is a criminal offense that is beginning to cause 
displeasure among the people of the land (the Krobos) and the settlers (the Fulani herdsmen). Aside 
this, there are other offenses like murder and robbery which are rare occurrences in the community. 
A respondent, when asked the types of crime in the community responded that “…assault, threat 
of harm, animal destroying people’s farm crops, causing damage, stealing, robbery, weed smokers, 
murder, okada riders”  are the crimes committed in the community [Mr Kwasi, a police officer]. 
The respondent from the court gave a list of crimes that are committed and reported to the court. 
His response, when asked about the types of crimes that are committed in the community was 
that… 
The main crime within the Asesewa area is stealing, causing unlawful harm, domestic 
violence and assault. Violence, but recently a little piece of armed robbery has set in, little 
pilfering, pick pocketing on market days, taking of people’s wares are always a problem. … 
[Mr. Teye, respondent from the court] 
 
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Another fact about criminal offenses is that social change and the introduction of the Criminal 
Code Ordinance has ordered that some criminal acts like rape and defilement should no longer be 
settled at the traditional courts. Therefore people are being educated to eliminate all forms of 
stigmatisation attached to such offenses and psych them on the need to report these cases to the 
police for legal processing (Abotchie, 2012). There are people in Asesewa who are now confident 
to report sexually related crime, thereby increasing the crime statistics on rape and defilement.  Mr. 
Mate’s response confirmed that:  
 Recently, there have been some reports on rape and defilement, I think it was even in the 
daily graphic some time ago. This is my opinion, with the level of public education that we 
are carrying out, people are now reporting, previously there might be several of such cases, 
that had gone unseen or untold but with public education, people are now reporting. And 
based on the information from the police, all those reports have been dealt with. 
 
4.4 The Concept of Crime prevention 
Crime prevention has different definitions and this is reflected in the responses given by the 
informants, which can be related to the definitions offered by Bala and Anand (2000).  According 
to them, crime prevention refers to the measures put in place to prevent a person from committing 
crime by putting in place early preventive measures; or measures put in place to make sure an 
individual does not commit further crime after an offence; or the measures to reduce the chances 
to commit an offence such as neighbourhood watch schemes, increased policing, and tight security; 
and finally crime prevention is defined as the measures aimed at the arrest and the punishment of 
offenders, the essence of which is to prevent others from committing future crimes. The 
respondents also had different perceptions of what crime prevention means. In their view, crime 
prevention takes different forms and multiple strategies. The narrative below suggested that, crime 
cannot be overcome by one agency but rather, there is a need for the police to patrol, for community 
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members to be vigilant, and for the community task force to be on the watch for effective crime 
prevention. This describes what Hope (1995) refers to as community-oriented policing. Below is 
the narrative of a respondent who was asked what he considered to be crime prevention. He 
responded that: “the police must patrol, the community members must be vigilant, and the 
community task force - they help to discover crime” … [Mr. Nobi] 
Other respondents also perceived crime prevention to be activities and efforts of various 
stakeholders to achieve the goal of crime prevention. Crime prevention cannot be achieved solely 
through the conventional agencies of justice such as the police and the courts, but through the 
effort of various agencies such as the community leaders, and community-oriented groups, both 
of whom are relevant to crime prevention. This is a multi-agency form of crime prevention 
(Rosenbaum, 2002). This becomes necessary due to the inefficiency of the state agencies in 
executing their duties well. According to Mr. Teye: 
Prevention of crime means all the agencies have to come together. Agencies means the 
security, chiefs and the people in the area, opinion leaders and the court. These groups are 
the people responsible to prevent crime in the area. We have something that is called district 
crime prevention unit, which includes the DCE, the assembly members, and the watch dog 
scheme. 
The nature of crime makes it expedient to focus on other available agencies to tackle crime within 
the community (Makin & Marenin, 2017). Asesewa, like any other community is facing the 
challenges and the negative effects of crime, hence the need to involve all other agencies to support 
the state agencies to battle crime.   
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4.5. The Agencies, their Roles and Specific Contributions to Crime Prevention in Asesewa 
One of the objectives of the study is to examine the various partnering agencies in Asesewa, their 
roles and specific contributions to crime prevention in the community. Crime has become a scare 
in societies, therefore, the accepted order of crime prevention in recent times is through the 
strategies of various partnering agencies. This is because community safety is complicated and 
needs the attention of various agencies (Cherney, 2004a). There are various partnering agencies 
responsible for crime prevention in Asesewa which support the police and the court. These 
agencies perform different roles in the aspect of crime prevention, although they all work towards 
crime prevention. 
4.5.1 The Cooperative Agencies of Crime Prevention in Asesewa 
The study established that there are various partners involved in crime prevention in Asesewa. The 
partners identified by respondents in the study are the District Assembly, the police and the court, 
the Alternative Dispute Resolution centre, the Assembly Members, Unit Committee Members, the 
School Management Committee, the Task Force and the Dademantse Union. The findings of the 
study resonated with what Baker (2010) stated that there are various partnering agencies 
responsible for crime prevention. This is an evidence that, the state is not the sole agency 
responsible for crime prevention, but there are other partners involved. The state was previously 
known to be the sole agency responsible for crime prevention according to  Makin and Marenin 
(2017), however, Asesewa had some agencies such as the Traditional authorities (Dademantse) 
existing before the establishment of the state agencies. This confirms the assertion of Baker (2010) 
that there were agencies of crime prevention in Africa before the establishment of the state 
agencies.  Various scholars advocated for the involvement of civil society institutions from the 
community in crime prevention (Garland 1996). Even though the rate of crime in Asesewa is not 
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threatening, from the response of the participants, there are, however, various agencies whose role 
is to prevent crime and ensure safety for the members of the community. The various partners are 
seen in the figure below.  
Figure 2: Agencies of Crime Prevention in Asesewa 
The Police
The Task The District 
Force Assembly
Crime 
Preventive 
Agencies in 
Asesewa The 
Assembly 
Traditional 
Members
Authorities
Unit 
Committee The Court
Members
 
Source: Fieldnote, 2019 
 
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4.5.2 Hierarchy in Cooperation 
The objective of the study also focuses on the hierarchy of the various agencies of crime prevention 
in Asesewa. The various partners exist within a structure where they get the legitimacy to operate 
and hence do not operate in isolation. The hierarchy among the partners determines who calls the 
shots, or who initiates crime preventive measures and programs within the community. Where 
there is hierarchy, there is the possibility of bureaucratic bottlenecks which delay the process of 
executing crime preventive measures. Even though the structure within the community exhibits 
hierarchical characteristics, it can be deduced from the responses of the Police and the District 
Assembly that they were not certain of who is superior. This is because, the District Chief 
Executive (DCE) is the chairman of the District Security Committee (DISEC) – the committee 
responsible for security in the District, and the District Police Inspector is the secretary. However, 
when it comes to preventive measures, the police maintain order and all other partners take 
instructions from them — the police give the technical advice on preventive measures. The police 
service has the constitutional mandate to be responsible for crime prevention. This finding 
confirms the fact that the police are constitutionally mandated to fight crime (Tankebe, 2008, 
2009a)  
 Hierarchy also explains the kind of relationship that exists among the partners — whether the 
relationship is a vertical or horizontal relationship. The figure on the next page describes the 
relationship among the partners in Asesewa. The Horizontal form of relationship is the type which 
describes the relationship which exists among partners of the same rank. Therefore the Assembly 
and the police have a horizontal relationship which is cordial and harmonious, and all the agencies 
on the bottom of the structure also have a horizontal relationship. The vertical form of relationship 
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explains how power and resources flow from the top of the hierarchy to the bottom. The District 
Assembly and the police are at the top of the hierarchy and they control the other partners at the 
bottom of the ladder. The findings of the study support the assertion that the vertical relationship 
is in connection with the link between the source of power and the agencies at the bottom of the 
ladder, whiles the horizontal relationship involves the harmonious relationship among agencies of 
the same level (Hope, 1995). Finally, the hierarchy informs the role each partner performs towards 
crime prevention. Below is a structure which indicates the hierarchy of agencies in Asesewa. 
Figure 3: Hierarchy of the Nodes in Asesewa 
the District 
Assembly The Police
The Court
Alternative 
Dispute 
Resolution
The School 
The Traditional Assembly Unit Committee 
The Task Force Management 
Authorities Members Members
Committee
 
During the interview, the informant from the District Assembly was questioned on the authority 
of the agencies. His response indicated that between the police and the District Assembly, the DCE 
being the chairman of the DISEC that does not imply that the District Assembly is more powerful 
than the police; they both have unique roles they perform. This is a confirmation of what (Shearing, 
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1992) indicated that there is no hierarchy in partnership, which he termed plural policing; and 
claims that there are various agencies that cooperate without status. Mr. Mate, the respondent from 
the District Assembly indicated that; 
The police advice, I don’t want to use the word control, it is about management. We manage 
the situation and the police advice, they are experts. I am not a security expert. But I head 
the meetings. However, we need advice from the police commander, that in this situation, 
we need to do XYZ, then we all discuss, come to an agreement and move on. 
The above response is an indication that the work of partnership does not implicitly concern 
itself with who is the leader of the group, however, the concern of partnership is for effective 
execution of the set target.  
The Police, however presumes that they are in charge of crime prevention in the community since 
they have been constitutionally mandated. Below is the narrative from the respondent. This 
assertion by the police is a contradiction to what Shearing (1992) says about equality of status and 
confirms the criticism of Hummer and Nalla (2003), which says that there are differences in status 
among agencies but it is however blurry. “The police are in charge of crime prevention; they have 
been constitutionally mandated to fight crime. The institution is established from the Act of 
Parliament” [Kwasi]. The respondent assumes that in cooperation, the police oversees the various 
partners because the constitution has legally mandated them to fight crime. 
A judicial official indicated that the court and the police are in charge, however, they have more 
power than the other agencies because they have the final say when crime is committed. The court 
decides who is guilty and who is innocent. The court believes that their role in crime prevention is 
more prominent, hence, they are at the top of the hierarchy. The response of the judicial participant 
indicated that “when we say yes, nobody can say no”, is an implication of the final sentencing the 
court metes out to culprits who are found guilty after the court procedurals. When the respondent 
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was asked who between the police and the court has more power, he responded that “the court and 
the police, before the District Assembly. The court and the police are in charge, we are above the 
police, if we say yes, nobody can say no” … [Mr. Teye] 
The District Assembly calls the shots when it comes to crime prevention in Asesewa. This is 
because all the agencies seem to be under the District Assembly, since the Assembly is the 
representative of the government at the local level. The response from the respondent from the 
District Assembly on the role of the assembly indicates that the assembly manages all activities 
regarding crime prevention. “Our roles are in summary, to co-ordinate all activities that will lead 
to crime prevention and management” … [Mr.Mate] 
The respondent form the District Assembly indicated in the early paragraphs that in the 
partnership, there is no outstanding leader since all the agencies are involved in the decision-
making, however, in this last statement, the respondent says that the District Assembly calls the 
shots, coordinates and monitors all activities in the District, including the activities of all the 
partners involved in the cooperation. This is because the District Assembly is the representative of 
the government in the District (Crook, 1994). 
4.5.3 The structure of the Agencies of Crime Prevention (Their roles and sources of 
authority) 
Another objective of the study was to discuss the roles of the various agencies in crime prevention.  
What role do they all play when it comes to crime prevention and where do they get the legitimacy 
to operate? The state empowers all the agencies directly or indirectly (Lund, 2006). The police, 
the court, and the District Assembly, get their authority directly from the state, whiles the other 
agencies receive their authority to operate through the local government within the community or 
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through the people in the community, who select members to join those agencies, which implies 
that they get their authority from the members of the community who entrust them with their lives.  
The study examined the general roles of the cooperating agencies in crime prevention before 
narrowing it down to the specific roles of the various agencies. These roles were gleaned from the 
responses of the various agencies on the roles they perform. 
4.5.3.1. The General Roles of the State Nodes in Crime Prevention 
 Colonialism changed the format of crime prevention in Africa, shifting the responsibility of crime 
prevention onto the state. The state is therefore legitimately required to ensure a safe environment 
for people in the community to embark on their various activities (Tankebe, 2009a). Some of the 
roles of the state nodes that were discovered from the study are as follows: 
The state agencies perform roles such as the making and implementation of crime preventive 
policies. They must survey the community and assess the rate of crime and design a befitting 
solution to the problem. The state agencies appraise the measures to recruit to ensure a peaceful 
environment. Some of the policies are the educational campaign policies, formation of other 
agencies to aid crime prevention and the involvement of community civil groups. 
Another role of the state agencies is to punish offenders and ensure that crime does not take place 
again. The state agencies have the legality to mete out punishment to offenders when found guilty. 
For instance, a suspect found guilty of defilement is sentenced to seven years in prison (Ame, 
2011, 2017). 
Finally, the state nodes are responsible for maintaining social order, policing and ensuring social 
control. It is the responsibility of the state to ensure that there is orderliness in the community and 
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to provide its agencies with the necessary amenities and facilities needed for the maintenance of 
law and order within a community.  
4.5.3.2. The General Roles of the Other Nodes of Crime Prevention in Asesewa 
Before the advent of colonialism unto the African continent, various measures were put in place 
to ensure community safety. The advent of the foreign agencies to the continent has impacted the 
performance of already existing agencies of crime prevention, but has not totally wiped them out 
of the system. The community-based agencies support the state agencies to execute their duties of 
crime prevention. They perform roles such as: 
Acting as informants for the state agencies. They play the roles of the eyes and ears of the state 
nodes. The other partners reside in the community and are aware of the criminal hideouts in the 
community. This confirms the assertion of Jakobi (2016) that, the community-based agencies help 
to discover crime at its roots because they are among the people and they know the people within 
the community and their various activities, which makes it easier to scout for information. They 
also help to discover the root causes of crime to prescribe the best strategies to stop them. This 
agrees with what Diphoorn and Berg (2014) indicated, that the other partners act as informants to 
the state agencies when it comes to crime prevention. They play the role of providing protection, 
investigating, deterring people from committing crime, resolving disputes and punishing 
offenders.  
4.5.4 Specific Roles of Other Partnering Nodes  
All agencies of cooperation have roles they play while cooperating. The narratives also agree with 
the literature that, partners have specific roles they all play in crime prevention (Amtaika, 2010; 
Metz, 2004), and these roles are not performed in isolation; they work hand-in-hand with each 
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other. The community-based agencies are noted for helping to discover the root causes of crime 
(Garland, 2001; Jakobi, 2016). This is because the members of the other partners reside among the 
people and are aware of the daily activities of the members of the community. This is manifested 
in the roles that the various agencies indicated that they perform in crime prevention. This section 
discusses the root sources of all the agencies, who empowers them to work, and who they are 
responsible to? 
4.5.4.1 The District Assembly 
The District Assembly is the representative of the government in the district and co-ordinates all 
activities within the district. Asesewa is the administrative centre for Upper Manya District, 
therefore all major activities revolve around Asesewa. Under the assembly, there is the District 
Security Council (DISEC), which is in control of issues regarding crime prevention in the District. 
The District Assembly also produces the Assembly Members who are put into committees. One 
of those committees is the Justice and Security Committee, which supervises the activities of the 
crime prevention agencies and reports to the Assembly. It is the mother body for most of the 
agencies — the Assembly Members, the Unit Committee Members, the Task Force and the School 
Management Committee. They, however, have different roles they play towards crime prevention. 
The District Assembly receives the authority to function from the Local Government Act 936 of 
2016, which gives the Assembly the mandate to execute its functions. The Assemblies (MMDAs) 
function as development authorities at the local level. The respondent from the District Assembly 
was asked where the Assembly receives the authority to operate from. He replied that: 
 
 The state, the laws of the state, the constitution and the local governance act provides for 
the authority. The legal framework that establishes the District Assembly act 936 of 2016. 
The local governance Act establishes sub-committees in the assembly into which assembly 
members are put… [Mr. Mate] 
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The District Assembly exercises the highest political and administrative authority at the local 
level. The local planning authorities are empowered to formulate Medium Term Development 
Plans for their respective districts (Agyemang, Amedzro, & Silva, 2017). Act 936 empowers 
the District Assembly to operate as the representative of the central government within the 
district overseeing the various administrative activities that are undertaken in the district. 
 
4.5.4.1.1 Identify challenging situations and implement solutions 
  
The District Assembly can identify situations that are likely to lead to the undermining of people’s 
rights and ensure that suspects are taken through the right channels of punishment. This is because 
it is responsible for the welfare of the people in the district and therefore has the mandate to do 
whatever it takes to ensure safety.  
And so, whiles we are preventing it we need to manage it in such a way that it does not 
escalate to a certain level that will affect so many people so in summary, it is to co-ordinate. 
What it therefore means is that, we try to identify situations that are likely to lead to the 
undermining of people’s rights. We need to find ways of preventing possible occurrence of 
crime, we also ensure that suspects are taken through the right processes of sanctioning. The 
state has already established laws by which people who commit crime are taken through. 
And so, we have the responsibility of ensuring that, they go through the right processes… 
[Mr. Mate] 
According the Act 936 (2016), the District Assembly has the mandate of providing security to 
the people in the District. The rights of the people are to be protected and hence the District 
Assembly is always on the lookout for situations that could pose as threats to the members of 
the community (Agyemang et al., 2017). The District Assembly as the administrative body in 
the district makes provision for the security agencies to embark on missions that enhance the 
protection of the rights of community members. 
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4.5.4.1.2 Coaching 
The Assembly coaches people on how to be vigilant, and to identify people with suspicious 
behaviour. This connotes what Garland (2001) describes as responsibilisation, when the members 
of the community take responsibility for their own safety. The Assembly also provides technical 
training to crime preventive agencies they form, for instance the setting up of the Task Force to 
aid the police in their effort to fight crime in the community. Below is the response from Mr. Mate   
We also provide training: we have technical people who provide training for example, when 
we form task force, we engage the police. If you form fire volunteers, we have a few, we 
engage the fire service, and so we support training od voluntary organisations and 
personnel’s who will be employed to ensure that we prevent and manage crime. 
The District Assembly does not only make provision for the already existing security agencies but 
also sets up and trains bodies that would aid in the provision of security, to ease the load on the 
police in providing security in the community. 
4.5.4.1.3 Education 
 
The District Assembly is also responsible for public education in terms of crime prevention; but it 
does not do this in isolation. It liaises with other agencies like the School Management Committee, 
the Dademantse, the Police, Assembly Members, and the Court.  It is essential to educate the public 
on the consequences of criminal offenses and how to be vigilant against the schemes of criminals. 
The excerpt below is the narrative of the respondent from the Assembly...  
We also have the responsibility of public education. We undertake a number of public 
education programmes in terms of crime prevention, the education programmes normally 
build people on how to be vigilant, how to identify possible criminals especially in the area 
of suspicious characters within the environment… [Mr. Mate]  
Public education is another tool that can support the fight against crime in communities (Rauch, 
2005). The District Assembly tries to create awareness among the people to be on the watch 
against criminals. It also teaches them to respond to criminal cases and educates them on their 
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legal rights. Public education is an essential means of fighting crime, because it enlightens the 
people about the schemes of criminals and also teach them the tactics of warding off crime 
within the community (Rauch, 2005). 
4.5.4.1.4 Provision of Resources 
 
The Assembly also provides the necessary resources for ensuring a safe community e.g. it provides 
the police with vehicles for their rounds, fuel for the vehicles and training for the task force and 
fire volunteers. Below is the response of a participant on the role of the District Assembly: “we 
also play the huge responsibility of provision of resources. Very critical. We have to provide 
necessary resources to: Vehicle, fuel, and all that is needed in ensuring that crime is prevented and 
managed” [Mr. Mate] 
Resource allocation is one trademark of nodal governance, i.e. how resources are distributed and 
who allocates the necessary resources for the set task (Shearing & Wood, 2003). In the case of 
Asesewa, the District Assembly provides the major resources for crime preventive activities. 
According to another respondent, “the District Assembly is responsible for the provision of 
vehicles and fuelling of vehicles for embarking on operations” [Mr Kwasi] 
4.5.4.2 The Police 
The police are one of the legalised state agencies responsible for crime prevention. They have been 
equipped by the state to render security services to the state. Capobianco (2006) indicates that the 
role of the police in crime prevention is to undertake night patrols and capacity building to sustain 
crime prevention strategies. The police in Asesewa undertake these activities, which confirms what 
the literature espoused. The role of the police service is generally to ensure that there is peace in 
the community and ensure that the community is secure for commercial activities. The police also 
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educate the public on the criminal codes and any new law that is instituted (Abotchie, 2008). The 
police participant responded that the police “patrol day and night, community policing — the 
community police are put in the town to give information to reveal the hideouts of the criminals. 
We also educate the community on crime preventive measures” … [Mr. Kwasi]  
Besides the role of the police in crime prevention, the police respondent was asked about the source 
of their authority. The government of Ghana has equipped the police with the responsibility of 
ensuring security to the nation. According to the participant,  
the police service receives the power to function from the criminal code – Act 29 and 30. 
Act 29 prescribes the punishment to be given to an offender e.g. punishment for defilement 
is seven (7) years, Act 30 is the procedure. It tells how to go about the criminal code duty 
role—teaches how to arrest (tap the person, show the Identification Card) … [Mr Kwasi] 
4.5.4.3 The Court 
The court as the judicial system gives sentences, which deters people from committing crime and 
prevents culprits from repeating crime (Capobianco, 2006). The court in Asesewa helps to 
maintain sanity in the community by adjudicating cases among conflicting parties and meting out 
punishments based on the severity of the offense of the perpetrator. When the participant from the 
court was asked the role of the court in cooperation and the source of their authority, he replied 
that:  
the court sentences arrested people to prison, by way of punishing them, it deters others 
from committing such crime. The court as a judicial system also receives it authority to 
operate from the state. The respondent narrates “the constitution mandates the court to use 
the criminal law to execute its responsibilities” … [Mr. Teye] 
 
4.5.4.4 The Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) 
The role of Alternative Dispute Resolution is to help the court to arbitrate cases which are not 
severe. The ADR plays the role of reducing the load of piled cases in court. They handle cases like 
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assault, domestic violence etc. This is similar to the story of Ubuntu in South Africa, where trivial 
cases are handed over to the traditional courts for adjudication so as to reduce the load in court 
(Schoeman, 2012). The ADR in Asesewa arbitrates its cases in the legal court room but does not 
pass judgement. 
ADR is set up the judicial service to settle issues among disputed parties using the mediation 
system. The Alternative Dispute Resolution is under the court because the court decides 
which cases they handle, and they also report to the court on the progress of cases they have 
been given… [Mr. Lawer] 
 
4.5.4.5 The Assembly Members 
Assembly Members are opinion leaders or leaders of the electoral areas. They are voted into power 
every four years. Members of the Justice and Security Committee, who oversee issues of security 
within the district are selected from among the Assembly Members. One of the roles of Assembly 
Members in relation to crime prevention is to educate the members of the community during 
durbars on the need to be on guard against criminals. They also act as informants to the police and 
they are like the eyes and the ears to the police in the community. They cannot do much when it 
comes to the technicality of crime preventive measures, however, in their own small ways they try 
to sensitise the community to get involved and be responsible for their safety. “Assembly Members 
receive the authority to operate from Act 462, which was repealed into Act 936 which regulates 
their work; however, they report to the District Chief Executive who oversee all local 
administration” … [Mr. Kwao] 
4.5.4.6 The Unit Committee Members (UCM) 
The Unit Committee Members (UCM) are people selected by Assembly Members to assist them 
in their work. The UCM educate members of the community and create the awareness of who the 
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police are and their role in the community. They try to break the shell of insecurity from the 
members of the community. Below is the response given by the participant when he was asked the 
role of the UCM:  
Educating the community members, actually, most times, most of them see the police as 
villains, we only tell them how to go about such cases. Sometimes they also see the police 
as unprofessional, when they report a crime, they are scared that the police will reveal their 
identity to the culprit… [ Mr. Djaba] 
 
Unit Committee Members follow up on issues and find means to settle them and report to the 
police when the problem goes beyond their control. UCM have the right to arrest offenders and 
send them to the police for further investigation. The example below was given by one of the 
participants who was asked the roles the UCM play to prevent crime: 
A month ago no ko ba gnℇ jukwe yo ko tsℇℇ gnℇ hiↄ ke eba gn3 pi3m, n3 ji Hausa guy ko, 
jukwor ba de ema mi, n3 wa y3, wa nu l3 se gidigidi, n3 ek3 tu fo k3 je wade, way a pee l3 
report, k3 ba si piↄnↄ eb3 mami, ke ebaa wa ma nu l3 …[Mr. Appiah] 
(Translation: A month ago, some Hausa guy came calling some small girl to the bathroom, 
but the girl refused and reported to the mother, they rushed there to arrest him, but he 
struggled with them and outwitted them. The case was reported and anytime he steps foot in 
the town, he will be arrested) 
The UCM also try to scare away criminals using their own strategies through community watch 
dog groups that they have created within their communities. Crime prevention in Asesewa is not 
exclusive to crime preventive agencies. Therefore, the members of the community are needed to 
support the fight against crime. The members of the community are more open to the Unit 
Committee Members because they see them as “their own” and are more comfortable relaying 
information to them than the police, who are seen as strangers and a threat to them. The respondent 
described how the activities of the community members scare away criminals. 
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And we also investigate a lot, especially when something is missing. We do the preliminary 
investigations before the police come in. Normally, the people are able to report suspects to 
the Unit Committee Members than to the police. The community members see themselves 
as one people with the Unit Committee Members, so they do not fear reporting cases to them 
[Mr. Djaba] 
 
The UCM receive the authority to operate from the District Assembly, however, the work they do 
is voluntary. This is the response of the participant on the source of their authority “we have been 
empowered by the District Assembly. The Assembly members are in charge over the Unit 
Committee members” [Mr. Appiah] 
4.5.4.7 School Management Committee 
This group of people have been selected from among various Parent – Teacher Associations in 
various schools within the community. They call for meetings to educate parents and students on 
issues of crime and how to take precaution. They get the authority to operate from the parents who 
elected them to represent them. The excerpt below is the response of the participant to their source 
of authority… 
They receive the authority to operate from the government Act 1975. They also get their 
mandate to operate from the United Nations Children Fund, this is because we receive 
funding from UNICEF…However, the ultimate authority comes from the people who 
selected us to represent them which is the community [Mr. Kene] 
 
 4.5.4.8 The Task Force 
The Task force was formed by the Assembly on the 19th of December 2018 to aid in crime 
prevention within Asesewa. The task force plays the role of community watch dog. They keep 
watch in the community and alert the police when they see anything strange. They patrol the 
market on market days to ensure orderliness; they act as the eyes of the police by giving out 
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information to the police since they are in the community (Diphoorn & Berg, 2014). The narrative 
below is the answer of the respondent on the roles the task force plays. 
Wa wↄ we si ma, ade we wↄ se, the word task force ↄↄ wↄ ne ko mℇ wa nu sisi no ko wa sℇ 
mi. Lↄↄ wa wↄ we si ma, ekoo be nℇ Chief Executive wↄ si, police inspector wↄ si oo, wↄ 
wa gnℇ tue baa blℇyoo kℇ ya si kaa 12 am noko omaa na kaa wa ta mami kwraa, wa teo si 
ma, ko nℇ wa ma hiℇ nii nℇ transpire no ko jeo he kℇ tsↄ… [ Mr. Yaro]  
(Translation: We do not sleep early, the word task force, some of us understood it before we 
joined, so we do not sleep early, maybe when the DCE and the Police Inspector are asleep, 
we are still awake up to 12am, before we all retire to our homes, we wake up early to find 
out what transpired during the night) 
The Task Force receives the authority to operate from the District Assembly which is mandated 
by the Local Governance Act to create agencies to aid the running of the community. The Task 
Force respondent narrates that… 
The District Assembly gives the Task Force the mandate to operate. However, we are to 
report to the police. We also receive order from the Assembly members because we cannot 
bypass them and go to the DCE with any challenges… [Mr. Yaro] 
The Task Force was initiated by the District Assembly, yet, they report to the Assembly 
Members in the community and to the police. 
 
4.5.4.8 The Traditional Authorities (The Dademantse Union) 
Traditional authorities in the Ghanaian setting generally help ensure peace and security in the 
community as well as aid to in the regulation of the behaviour of people in the community (Annan, 
2013). The Dademantse Union is a group of traditional leaders who are sub-chiefs within the 
community. They all answer to the Kono (the Paramount chief at Odumase-Krobo). The work of 
the Dademantse Union is to ensure serenity within the community and settle civil cases among the 
members of the community, such as family issues, minor cases of misunderstandings, and animals 
destroying farm produce, which they settle by asking the culprit to pay a fine. They also inform 
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the police of the criminal issues that have been reported to them by the members of the community, 
for instance defilement and rape cases. This contradicts what Akpabli-Honu (2009) says, that some 
people send sexual offense cases to the chiefs for settlement. According to the respondent, they 
are guided by the codes of the National House of Chiefs in Ghana and are therefore trained on the 
kind of cases to arbitrate. He responded that “we work frequently with the police by giving 
information to them, exposing the hideouts of criminals. Settling issues among the police which 
will affect security” … [Mr Kwame] 
The authority of the Dademantse Union can be described as “dual”. This is because, they receive 
the power from their subjects while the state also empowers them to oversee some criminal issues 
when it is in their jurisdiction. The narrative below explains this…  
We are enstooled by the community members. We have the right to rule over our people and 
we owe our allegiance to them however, the legal authority to operate has been ascribed by 
the National House of Chiefs. They lectured us on criminal cases to handle and those to 
release to the police service… [Mr. Kwaku]  
 
4.6 Cooperative strategies of crime prevention  
(Shearing & Wood, 2003, p. 404) acknowledged that, “…the relationships between nodes of 
governance are varied and involve cooperative alliances”; meaning there is an intentional 
partnership among the various agencies towards the achievement of set goals. Shearing and Wood 
(2003) further defined the term ‘state agencies’ as the state-owned institutions such as the police, 
the courts and the correctional centres through which crime is governed. Therefore, the state 
agencies in this context are those state-owned agencies such as the police, the court and the District 
Assembly who represent the state in the town and whose responsibility is crime prevention. 
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The other partnering agencies have the characteristics of looking out for a kind of morality and 
social order and offering a voluntary service. The other cooperating agencies in this study will 
mean all locally organised groups in the community such as the Unit Committee Union, 
“Dademantse Union”, the task force, the School Management Committee and the informal level 
of local government such as the Assembly Members. 
Therefore the study, which considered the partnering agencies of crime prevention in Asesewa 
examined the Police, the court, the District Assembly, the Assembly Members, the Unit Committee 
Members, the Task Force, the Alternative Dispute Resolution, the School Management Committee 
and the Dademantse Union. 
Moreover, cooperation is said to be the realisation that the state agencies cannot fight crime alone 
and that they need the help of other partnering agencies such as the education sector, local 
government as well as citizens (Makin & Marenin, 2017; Masuku, 2006). This is consistent with 
the results from the field. All stakeholders of crime prevention in Asesewa work in collaboration 
to ensure a safe community. There is no programme geared towards crime prevention in the 
community that is undertaken in exclusion. The strategies and methods of crime prevention in 
Asesewa are more socially oriented. These strategies confirm the scholarship on crime prevention 
with social intervention, which discusses different strategies of crime prevention such as 
recreational activities, public education and mentorship and the western conventional methods 
(incarceration) of crime prevention  (Capobianco, 2006; Metz, 2004).  
4.6.1 Crime prevention through socially-oriented programmes 
These social activities of crime prevention take different forms. They take the form of education, 
mentoring, and recreational activities. One notable fact is that most of these activities are 
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undertaken by agencies in cooperation. The agencies support each other in the various activities 
they independently organise towards crime prevention. 
4.6.1.1 Education 
            Public education is one of the socially-oriented strategies that all the agencies undertake to prevent 
crime. These agencies visit churches and other social gatherings to create awareness on the 
increase of crime in the community and to educate the people on how to relate to the police in 
some communities (Ayodele, 2017). This is because most of the members of the community are 
reluctant to report criminal cases to the police because of fear and the lack of trust for the police. 
They are also entreated to have confidence in the police and be prompt in reporting criminal issues 
to them (Bénit-Gbaffou, 2008). The public is further educated on the need to freely report criminal 
offenses to the police to enable them to investigate and bring the perpetrators to face justice. 
Therefore, the Asesewa community members have gained some level of confidence in the police 
and hence are reporting criminal offenses to the police. Report from the study indicated that there 
is an increase in criminal activities because of the level of public education on the need to freely 
report criminal offenses to the police. The number of people who report cases to the police has 
increased. The narrative below is a response from the respondent of the District Assembly on some 
of the strategies they use to curb crime in the community. He narrated that: 
This is my opinion, with the level of public education that we are carrying out, people are 
now reporting, previously there might be several of such cases, that had gone unseen or 
untold but with public education, people are now reporting. And based on the information 
from the police, all those reports have been dealt with… [Mr. Mate] 
The public, according to the informant is now bold to report criminal issues to the police and 
this is as a result of the public education that they are consciously embarking on. The public is 
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further educated on the repercussions of committing an offense and the need to be cautious of 
the cunning skills of criminals. 
The judicial respondent indicated that, representatives from the court visit other institutions to 
educate the people on the consequences of criminal offenses and how these acts can negatively 
affect their future, especially the youth: “The court has taken upon itself to go to churches and 
schools to educate them on the punishment of crime” [Mr. Teye]. The youth in the community will 
be prudent in their dealings knowing that criminal acts could destroy their future. 
One Assemblyman also responded that the Assembly Members also take part in the education 
campaign. He narrated that: “we formulate rules that is by-laws, enforcing the by-laws, and educate 
people on the by-laws and use it to punish offenders. Anyone who goes against the law will have 
to be punished either by fining or prison” [Mr. Nartey]  
Some agencies like the School Management Committee, the District Assembly and the Assembly 
Members visit schools to educate students on some habits that could lead to criminal acts that 
might destroy their future. Some of these meetings are not limited to students alone but parents are 
also involved. Educating the parents on how to ensure that their children go by the rules and 
regulations of the school and the society for the betterment of their future. 
The other form of education is the one organised by the Dademantse within the community, which 
is done with the aid of the police and the District Assembly to educate the public about the different 
forms of criminal offenses the criminals are undertaking and how to be on their guard against such 
offenses. This kind also teaches them about how to relate with the various agencies to combat 
crime and how to be cautious and be each other’s keeper.  
Mr Nartey, an Assembly Member further explained that: 
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“There is a public forum and the community also has the opportunity to tell the police what 
disturbs them. The Dademantseme are also given the opportunity to talk to the members of 
the community about developmental issues and how to guard themselves against criminal 
intruders. And this has tightened the relationship among them”. 
The public forum gives the platform for the various partners to meet with the members of the 
community, brainstorm and educate the public on the dangers of crime and how to take 
precaution.   
4.6.1.2 Mentoring Method 
Another socially-oriented mode of crime prevention is the mentoring method of crime prevention.  
Mentoring provides the highest dosage of adult – child interaction of any formal community-based 
program (Sherman, 1997). This takes the form of young ones being taught to follow some 
principles of life and look up to some prominent members in the community to shape their lives 
through interaction and observation. Also, the leaders of the community organise programs where 
the young ones are educated on the negative impacts of criminal activities. Also, juveniles who 
commit crimes are committed to a fit person who ensures that they go by the orders of the court. 
Sending the juveniles to prison can contaminate them, that is why they are committed to a fit 
person. The narrative below is the response of the participant of the court. “these fit persons mentor 
the juveniles so that their future is not jeopardised, you know, when they send them to prison, it 
will affect their career” … [Mr. Teye] 
Another mentoring activity that the agencies undertake is with the NGO- sponsored programmes   
spearheaded by the Assembly and supported by the School Management Committee, Dademantse, 
Assembly Members.  Students are engaged on various occasions and taught how to be responsible 
and avoid activities that will jeopardise their future. They are taught the negative impacts of 
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cannabis smoking and truancy in school. These programmes are organised in the various schools 
in the community. 
4.6.1.3. Recreational Activities 
Sports activities and other recreational programs are organised to create an opportunity for the 
youth to socialise, have fun and learn from other people. These programs are consistent with the 
literature which posits that sports and recreational activities limit criminal activities within a 
community (Cameron & MacDougall, 2000; Felson, 1987). They do not only have fun but during 
this period, leaders of the community are invited to discuss issues of life with them. They are 
educated on the effects of the use of hard drugs. The essence of this is to work on the character of 
the youth. The respondent from the District Assembly replied that, “the youth day celebration that 
we had in 2018, the emphasis again was on drug use and so personally, we went around, we had 
various forms of education for the youth which they participated in very well” [Mr. Mate] 
 
4.6.2. The Ancient Paths 
This section of crime prevention focuses on the conventional imported methods of crime 
prevention which use the police and the courts to ensure security within a community (Boege et 
al., 2009). The police and the court in Asesewa use patrol, arrest, and sentencing to prevent crime, 
however, the various agencies support the court and the police to execute their plans. The District 
Assembly provides the resources (fuel, vehicles) needed by the police to go on patrol, the task 
force supports the police to keep watch in the community, the Dademantse and the ADR aid the 
court to arbitrate cases, the Assemblymen and the Unit Committee Members support the police to 
investigate criminal cases. 
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4.6.3.1 Patrol, Arrest and Sentencing 
The police declared that to prevent crime in Asesewa, they patrol the community. They are also 
supported by the community police sometimes. The Police stomps the hideouts of hardcore 
criminals to cause an arrest and this act deters others from visiting the hiding sites of criminals. 
When culprits are arrested by the police, they are sent to the court for the suspect to be proven 
guilty or acquitted. A suspect who is found guilty is punished accordingly. 
The police respondent narrated that, the police “patrol day and night, community policing — they 
are also put in the town to give information to reveal the hideouts of the criminals”. [Kwasi] 
The punishment meted out to offenders deters others from committing crime. The respondent from 
the court replied that: “When people are arrested, and brought to the court, the court sentence them 
by way of punishing them which deters others from committing that same crime” ... [Mr. Teye] 
These actions are not performed in isolation. The Assembly Members, and the Unit Committee 
Members also have the power to of arrest culprits and send them to the police for further 
investigation. This is an example of cooperation among the various agencies in the community. 
This is consistent with Ame (2017) who says that offenders can be arrested by civilians and handed 
over to the police for further interrogation. 
4.6.3.2 The Fear of the Dark Room  
Another method which is used to prevent crime is the conventional method of crime prevention. 
The use of the “fear of the dark room” is a description of the cell. This finding confirms Abotchie 
(2008), who indicates that people are scared of the prison cells and will therefore not want to find 
themselves there. The Cell in Asesewa does not have electricity system and it is very small and 
open to mosquito attack. People are afraid to end up in cells or go to court, therefore they try not 
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commit crimes that could send them there. The respondent from the Dademantse Union said that 
“the police take action when cases are reported which deters others because they are scared of the 
cells” … [Mr. Kwao]. 
This participant’s response is contrary to the literature on recidivism, which says that people who 
have been to prison have a higher rate of committing more crime and returning to the prison 
(Manski & Nagin, 1998; Pritchard, 1979). 
4.6.4. Community Support Measure 
All agencies work as a network, nevertheless, they live within the community, hence they do not 
operate in a vacuum. The nodes get the support of the community members, and some of their 
activities in the community deter people from committing crime. To defend themselves the 
community members use violent means by arresting and beating up the suspects before handing 
them over to the police. Baker (2004) described that this happens in some lower communities in 
Nairobi during multi-choice policing. He emphasised the fact that the neighbourhood watch 
members in the community do not think nor care about the rights of the suspect, but think that if 
the suspect got the chance again, he would harm them, so they will rather harm him first. This 
finding also confirms what Tankebe (2009b) recounted; that the ineffectiveness of the police 
causes the public to take the law into their own hands and seek justice. The excerpt below is the 
narrative of the Unit Committee Member participant: 
Actually, in my community like this we set up a watch dog, most of the boys in there hm, 
they are aware, when they grab you there, they will deal with them. When you steal from 
there and they find out, you are a dead body. So those are the measures we use… [Mr. Djaba] 
The participant was further asked if their actions did not amount to taking the law into their own 
hands. His response to this seen below “No, we don’t kill, we give them minimum torture. The 
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reason why they give them such beatings is that, chasing you is tiring, so they have to release 
certain tensions” [Mr. Djaba] 
The above narrative is against human rights but the ineffectiveness of the justice system in the 
community is forcing the people to take the law into their hands and seek justice. The act of beating 
up criminals by the “watch dog” in the community is an abuse, however, the members of the 
community felt it is an efficient means of ensuring safety in their neighbourhood. 
Mr. Kwame believes that another means to deter criminals is to involve the community by asking 
them to raise an alarm to inform neighbours of any suspicious character or activities in the 
neighbourhood… “Raise an alarm to inform the neighbours” [Mr. Kwame]  
4.7. The Cooperation  
Amtaika (2010) assesses that the police and the court have the primary responsibility of crime 
prevention however Makin and Marenin (2017) say that partnership is the realisation that the 
police agency cannot fight crime alone. Masuku (2006) confirms this assertion by purporting that 
the police cannot fight crime alone, they will need the help of other agencies. There are therefore 
some factors which ensure that cooperation among agencies is successful. 
4.7.1 The Reasons for Cooperation among the Agencies 
The existing literature highlighted the importance of cooperation and partnership among agencies. 
The act of cooperation improves crime preventive activities (Ayodele, 2017; Cross, 2016). This is 
because agencies bring their expertise and experiences in crime prevention on board. Cooperation 
also ensures that crime is discovered at its root, since all facets of agency experiences are explored 
from all angles in the society (Mutongwizo et al., 2015). None of the agencies is an island. They 
all work with one or more agencies to prevent crime in the town. There is what is called District 
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Security Committee (DISEC), which involves representatives from all agencies involved in crime 
prevention. This partnership is meant for policy formulation on security issues in the district. Since 
Asesewa is the administrative seat of the district, it has an advantage over the other communities. 
The management of security happens under the DISEC. The agency has representative from 
the Police service, representation from the Bureau of National Investigation, representation 
from Customs, here we do not have direct office and prisons so normally the region when 
you write to them, the commander of the region provides you with the person to be in the 
meeting, and so that is the way the co-ordination goes… [Mr. Mate] 
 
The meetings of agencies are not limited to only those who are involved in crime prevention or 
security issues, anybody could be present. Thus, crime prevention is not limited to the technical 
team alone, anyone needed for the purpose of crime prevention is welcomed. Response from the 
District Assembly regarding the agencies involved in crime prevention is seen below: 
Apart from the DISEC, there is also a sub-committee of the Assembly for justice and 
security. The legal framework that establishes the District Assembly, Act 936 of 2016, the 
local governance Act establishes sub-committees in the Assembly into which Assembly 
Members are put, into which you have Assembly Members on that sub-committee and so it 
is called, the justice and security sub-committee of the Assembly. And So basically, they 
also examine security situations and submit report to the DCE who is the Chairman of 
DISEC. Apart from that, any other person, or persons, or representative of institutions could 
be invited to the DISEC meeting as and when required. That means that if the matter 
concerns the community, community representations will be needed, if the matter concerns 
a person, the person will be invited. So basically, that is how the co-ordination goes… [Mr. 
Mate] 
 
Another narrative from a participant suggested that, the work of the agencies to partner with other 
agencies is already laid out and there is no need for any agency to try to co-ordinate. The court 
participant recounted that “the work of the agencies is already co-ordinated by law, when police 
arrest, they have to bring to the court because everybody is innocent unless pronounced guilty by 
court” … [Mr. Teye] 
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The police service seems like the pivot for all the other agencies in the community. This is because, 
even though all the other agencies try to fight crime, the police seems to be influential to the 
effectiveness of the crime preventive activities of all the other agencies. Most of the respondents 
from the various agencies stated how they need the police in one way or the other. Participants 
were asked which of the agencies they frequently work with. From the responses given by 
participants, it can be deduced that they all have immediate agencies they work with however, the 
police and the Assembly play a critical role in their activities “We work with the Zongo chief, the 
Assembly and also the police, when, we try and we are not able to handle it, then we call on the 
police”… [Mr. Kwame]  
There are cases that other agencies involve the police when it comes to settlement of some severe 
offense against property. An Assembly Member responded that “With the issue of cattle destroying 
farm products, the Assembly members go to the farm with the police to investigate the matter” … 
[Mr. Kwao] 
The respondent from the District Assembly replied that they work with other security agencies 
such as the Bureau of National Investigation (BNI) and the Fire Service, however, the police are 
more active when it comes to crime prevention in the community. He replied that “we work with 
the police. The BNI definitely comes in there, however, the police are more feasible in this business 
of crime prevention” … [Mr. Mate] 
A Unit Committee Member responded that even though they work with other agencies such as the 
Dademantse Union, the Assembly Members, the Task Force, and the District Assembly, they  work 
with the police more because they (the police) have been legally mandated to take up such 
responsibilities. He indicated that, “the Unit Committee work with the Assembly members and the 
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police, because we know that it is the police who are in charge of security. Aside the Assembly 
members, we frequently work with the police” … [Mr. Djaba].  
 
4.7.2.2 Cooperation in practice 
The various nodes in partnership work with one other to ensure that there is security within the 
community. Even though they are all involved in crime preventive activities, they however have 
specific agencies they closely work with and specific activities that they undertake together to fight 
crime. It is espoused that, agencies collaborating is an effective means to prevent crime in a 
community (Ayodele, 2017). The narratives below are the responses of participants indicating 
which agencies they closely work with and how they work together to prevent crime. Since it is a 
partnership, most of the responses are similar.  
A participant indicated that they work with the police, and he was further asked which other agency 
they work with aside the police and how they work. He responded that apart from the police, the 
Assembly Members also work with the Dademantse by visiting religious organisations such as 
Churches for public education. According to him: 
Yes, Dademantse, Churches, we use churches as well for announcements. Currently we have 
association of information centres. These are not radio per se, but they are kind of 
megaphones that are placed in various communities, we also work with the NCCE, non-
formal education, that is just to mention a few… [Mr. Mate] 
  
The respondent from the Task Force replied that they frequently work with the police and the 
Assembly, and they do this by calling for the support of the police anytime they encounter any 
challenge when they embark on operations. However, they report their challenges to the Assembly 
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Members to take it through the bureaucratic process of registering concerns in the Assembly. He 
responded that… 
The Assembly, the police—in case we go out on duty and we encounter any challenges, we 
call on the police if they are around. We frequently work with the Assembly members. We 
work with them because if anything, you cannot bypass the Assembly Members, and the 
District Co-ordinator and move to the District Chief Executive, we must pass through some 
departments before they will lead you to the Chief Executive… [Mr. Yaro]  
The respondent from the SMC indicated that they work with the Assembly Members, the 
Dademantse Union, Head Teachers, Parent — Teacher Association Executive body, and Circuit 
Supervisors to educate the parents and students on the repercussions of actions that lead to criminal 
offenses, which can negatively impact their future. He replied by stating the various agencies they 
cooperate with: “we co-operate with Assembly Members, Dademantse, District Directorates, 
Circuit Supervisors, Head Teachers, Local SMCs and PTA executives” [Mr. Kene] 
 
4.8 Vertical and Horizontal Relationship among Cooperating Nodes 
The study further examined the relationship that exists among the various agencies of crime 
prevention in Asesewa. The structure on page 58 describes the vertical and the horizontal 
relationship that exists among the agencies. The vertical has to do with the relationship that exists 
between the agencies which are the source of power and resources, and the agencies at the lower 
level of the ladder. 
Therefore, the relationship that exists among the District Assembly and the rest of the agencies is 
vertical in nature because, all the various agencies (except the Dademantse, though they are also 
indirectly controlled by the District Assembly) look up to the District Assembly for funds and the 
legality and confirmation to execute their duties The Police also has a vertical relationship with 
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the other agencies, since they oversee all the technicalities of crime prevention and all other 
agencies look to them for final affirmation.  
The horizontal relationship has to do with the cordial relationship which exists among people of 
the same status (Hope, 1995; Rosenbaum, 2002). The District Assembly and the Police have a 
horizontal relationship, this is a cordial and harmonious relationship since they are at the same 
level of the ladder. The relationship which exists among the other agencies is horizontal. 
 It can be concluded that the relationship that exists among the state agencies and the non-state 
agencies is vertical, while the relationship that exists among agencies within the same class is 
horizontal. The responses from participants to the question of the relationship that exists among 
agencies agree with the literature (Shearing & Wood, 2003). They used the following expressions 
to describe the relationship among the agencies  
To Mr. Yaro, the Task Force respondent, the relationship between the Task Force and the 
Assembly Members is cordial, they always respond to their call, and this can be attributed to the 
fact that, there is a horizontal relationship between them. The narration below is his response… 
It is a cordial relationship; we are very cordial. If I say cordial, I can explain something to 
you shortly, the issue related to the Assembly members, we are almost free with them, 
whenever we call on them at any given time, they attend to us, you will never call any 
assembly member for them to ignore you that I am busy with this or that. He will be there… 
[ Mr. Yaro]. 
The response indicated that, the relationship among the Task Force and the Assembly Members 
is such that they can rely on them for help at any given time.  
Mr. Kwaku, the Dademantse respondent described the relationship with all agencies as cordial 
however, he stressed on the relationship with the Assembly Members and referred to the Assembly 
Members as their children. This is a horizontally harmonious relationship. They are civil society 
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agencies. He responded that “the Assembly members are like our children, so they come to us with 
their problems. So, there is no challenge with them. Because the Dademantse work with the 
Assembly members so that the community can develop” … [Mr. Kwaku] 
4.9 Resources mobilization, harnessed and utilized by the various nodes in crime 
prevention (Vertical Relationship) 
Another objective was to investigate how resources are mobilised, harnessed and utilised by the 
cooperative nodes in achieving their set their goals. The theory says that agencies govern by 
mobilising resources to manage and achieve their set goals (Burris et al., 2005). Resources are 
therefore, vertically distributed, from the top level of authority to the lowest level (Hope, 
1995);from the District Assembly to those at the bottom. However, some agencies have to fund 
their own programmes because there is insufficient financial support from the Assembly. The 
government of Ghana gives the Assembly Common Fund for running the activities; however, the 
Assembly also generates funds internally through taxes and tolls. These resources are generated 
from the markets in the District — Asesewa Market, Sekesua Market, and Akate Market. They 
therefore generate some money from these markets to run some internal activities and sponsor 
programmes. This is a confirmation of Cross (2016), that funds could be generated internally. 
Some programmes are also funded by the members of the community. There are Non-
Governmental Organisations (NGOs) that support the Assembly with programmes, but all other 
agencies are involved in the undertaking of such programmes sponsored by the NGOs. 
Basically, resources come from 1) the national coffers, the assembly receives what is called 
common fund. We also generate internally generated fund (IGF), then we are also supported 
by philanthropists and NGOs… [Mr. Mate] 
We have the funding through common fund, from taxes from market toll, property rate that 
is internally generated funds… [Mr. Nartey] 
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Participants were asked how they get funding for the programmes they organise and whether there 
is any form of payment. The narratives below are the responses “From the District Assembly, and 
sometimes the Assembly Members sponsor the programmes they organise” … [Mr. Narh]  
One characteristic of a non-state agency is its voluntarist nature which allows them to execute their 
duties without payment, and even sometimes sacrifice and fund the programs they organise 
themselves. They however receive some token after arbitrating cases. The respondent from the 
Dademantse Union replied that “the work we do is voluntary; we are not paid. But we get some 
money when we arbitrate cases and we fine the people” … [Mr. Kwame] 
When the respondent from the District Assembly was asked if there was a way the Assembly can 
support the Dademantse Union in their activities towards crime prevention, his response suggested 
that, there is no funding for the Dademantse which confirms what the Dademantse Union said 
regarding the funding of projects. He replied that “the government recognise them and hence they 
are given the chance to arbitrate some cases which they fine the culprits as a means of raising 
funds…” [Mr. Mate]. 
Aside the District Assembly fund programmes, common fund, internally-generated funds, and the 
self-funding of programmes, a list of NGOs which sponsor the activities of the Assembly was 
given and some of these are UNICEF, Plan International Ghana, Child Development Programme 
— Ghana, the Hunger Project and World Vision, etc. 
According to Mr. Appiah, the community members sometimes donate towards projects when they 
fall on them. He responded that “some community members are able to contribute towards projects 
when they fall on them. Some contribute in cash or in kind…” [Mr. Appiah]. 
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Mr. Kwaku, a respondent from the Dademantse Union who was also asked if the Assembly 
sponsors their activities, responded in the negative and said he did not know if they are making 
provisions for them, but for the mean time they sponsor their own meetings.  However, he does 
not rely so much on them because he wants to be recognised as the leader. He wants them to respect 
his office.   
We look at the youth, we inform them about the meeting, and they contribute. We also 
contribute a little and then we do the meeting. We don’t get any money from the Assembly. 
I don’t know if there is any percentage from the National to us but for now it is free. We 
don’t get discouraged, we are working, sometimes, I don’t even consult anyone, I want them 
to recognise my position, so I do it by myself [Mr. Kwaku]. 
4.10. Contestation 
The theory posits that, the relationships between nodes of governance or agencies are varied and 
involve various forms of contestation (Shearing & Wood, 2003). The agencies have differing 
relationships which come in different forms and it can be tensions or conflicts. 
4.10.1. Suspicions of budget allocation and spending 
One thing that generates tensions is resource distribution. There are various avenues for generating 
funds in the district for the various programmes and activities. However, respondents made 
complaints on how there is no funding for programmes, but workers at the Assembly can find 
money to sponsor their weekend trips for enjoyment. Most of the respondents from the agencies 
lamented on how they have to self-sponsor some programmes with their own hard-earned monies.  
The Assembly Member stated in his response that the Assembly sponsors some of their 
programmes, while the community also supports with the little, they have. Below is the narrative 
of the Task Force respondent expressing his displeasure on the alleged misappropriation of funds:  
The problem we the task force are facing right now is our allowances is not coming. For 
three months now, but aside that we don’t have any challenge with anyone. I can even order 
my boys not to go on duty because the work we are doing incurs people’s anger and curses. 
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The Assembly always says they lack funds which I don’t believe because if you lack funds 
to perform your duty, but weekends there is allowance for the staff to go for weekends and 
have fun, then what are you trying to tell me. It’s not everything we say. Me as the leader of 
the guys excuse me to say fi ngℇ iyem saminya. I can do the undoable. That you can’t even 
get close to me… [Mr. Yaro] 
 
The response indicated that the people were aggrieved with the misappropriation of funds and 
this if not properly managed, can create more tension among the agencies. 
 
4.10.2. Unprofessional attitude of the police  
The nodal governance theory is an outcome-generating system which produces goods or problems. 
Examples of the goods are peace, joy, happiness and economic sufficiency, while the problems 
generated could be violence, grief, shoddy goods (Burris et al., 2005). The responses confirm the 
fact that nodes produce results, which can be bad.  
Respondents from the various agencies expressed their displeasure with the activities of some of 
the agencies. Some were of the view that the police are unprofessional in their work. This is seen 
in the way the police handle criminal cases. Ten (10) respondents out of the total fifteen 
respondents raised concerns about the inability of the police to keep the identity of informants in 
the community hidden. This confirms what Baker (2004) discussed about the police in Imo state, 
who revealed the identities of informants to the gangs in the community who turned to hating them. 
Another issue with the police is the collection of money from suspects before granting them bail.  
The respondent from the District Assembly agreed to the fact that there are tensions among the 
various agencies. According to him, since it is a human institution, there are possibilities of such 
cases coming up. He said that: 
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As a human institution, and in communities, once a while you have situations calling for 
tension, scrabbles between two dademantseme, scrabbles between Fulani herdsman and 
community people as and when they come you manage them based on the situation. But we 
do not have an intense and probably a permanent tension among people… [Mr Mate]  
 
The community members do not trust the police because the police reveal the identity of 
community informants to the suspects, and therefore the members of the community prefer to deal 
with the Assembly Members or the Unit Committee Members whom they see as part of them. One 
of the Assembly Members narrated … 
It is very good. The good is coming from us, we the Assembly members and the Unit 
Committee but not with the community members. So, the community members don’t trust 
the police so much, because they are in the community, they are able to reveal their identity. 
(Oh asimasi lℇ ba de…. meaning it is this person who came to report). So, everything passes 
through us because, the police will just say, it is the Assembly member or Unit Committee 
Member who came to report. They know that’s their work hence no problem… [Mr. Djaba] 
 
One respondent alleged that some police officers partake in criminal acts such as cannabis 
smoking, which means that there is no way they can enforce the law on smoking and they also 
leak information to their counterparts (cannabis smokers) to disperse to avoid being arrested when 
the police are going on a mission. Mr Yaro, the Task Force respondent narrated that…” Some of 
the police even smoke, so when you encounter such a thing and you report, they call the guys and 
inform them so before they get there, they would have dispersed. And they also reveal your identity 
and you become a target” 
Another respondent added that the police sometimes act in an unprofessional manner, which 
impedes crime prevention. This was revealed after the participant responded that the relationship 
among agencies is cordial, however, there are issues that they are not happy with. The responses 
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also indicated that some partnering agencies prefer working with some agencies to others. The 
statement below was made by one of the participants. 
It is a cordial relationship; we are very cordial. If I say cordial, I can explain something to 
you shortly, the issue related to the Assembly members, we are almost free with them, 
whenever we call on them at any given time, they attend to us, you will never call any 
assembly member for them to ignore you that I am busy with this or that. He will be there.  
But the issue related to the police, hm… its either you come over or, he will not come… 
[Mr. Yaro] 
Another unprofessional attitude of the police is that they take bailing fee from suspects who are 
granted bail, which is unconstitutional and the fact that the police delay when they are called upon 
during emergencies. The respondent narrated that; “the police take bailing fee which is not in the 
constitution. The police do not also respond quickly when they are called on by other agencies of 
crime prevention” [Mr. Kwao] 
4.10.3. Interruption of justice 
Tensions are not limited to just one agency. The police also complained of the fact that, the 
Assembly Members interfere with their work when it comes to executing their duty in terms of 
arresting and putting victims in cells. The narrative below is the response by the participant when 
he was asked of the tensions that exist among the agencies. Even though he indicated that there 
was no tension among them and the relationship is cordial, upon further probing he revealed that 
there is interference in the execution of their duties. Crawford and Jones (1995) indicated that local 
politics can affect the efficiency of agencies in crime prevention. The community leaders use their 
position to hinder the justice system from executing their duties proficiently because they ask for 
the release of criminal suspects in cells just to obtain political favour from them. According to a 
respondent from the police service: 
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The Assemblymen interfere in cases because of their political ambitions and the desire to 
earn the votes of members of the community. Which is not their core business, they will 
come, when we arrest someone they try to interfere. We have no problem with the Task 
Force because they always give us information [Mr. Teye] 
 
Another respondent from the Dademantse Union confirmed that anytime he gets to the police 
station, the police do not hesitate to release a suspect on bail because they all know who he is in 
the community and they fear him. Mr. Kwaku, one of the Dademantse Union members responded: 
“the police know who I am, they know who my father was as well, that he was a police officer, 
and I do not tolerate any of those attitudes from them. The moment they see me, they know what 
to do, they release the suspect”. The police behaving properly at the sight of the Dademantse could 
be an evidence that the Police in the Asesewa community give reverence to the Traditional 
Authorities in the community to the extent that they would not want to show their 
unprofessionalism in their dealings with them. Tshehla (2005) indicated that there is a level of 
harmonious relationship that exists between the Police and the traditional leaders in the community 
which enables them to act appropriately when managing matters relating to crime. 
4.10.4. Lack of recognition 
Another factor which breeds tension among agencies is the lack of recognition of some cooperating 
agencies by others who feel superior (Diphoorn & Berg, 2014). This causes displeasure among the 
neglected agencies. The following Narrative portrays what prevails in Asesewa: “the challenge is 
that, the police does not recognise our office” [Mr. Yaro] 
The Task force believes that they are not given recognition by the police and as a result, any time 
the Task Force calls on the police during operation, they turn down their calls. However, the 
relationship between the Task Force and the Assembly Members makes it possible for them to call 
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for support anytime the need arises. When the respondent was asked why he thought the police 
behaved the way they did toward the Task Force, he replied that: 
their[police’s] complaint is that after our training, we have not been introduced to them 
officially, so whenever we go on an outreach, if not that “honourable” is my friend and I will 
call him to come and check something for me, else no one will come… The challenge is that, 
the police does not recognise our office [Mr.Yaro] 
When he was further asked why the police put up that attitude, since the agency was set up to 
support the police to fight crime? The respondent believes that the police does not support their 
selection, and therefore they are not enthused working with them. He complained that most of the 
crime preventive activities in the community are being undertaken by the Assembly Members… 
The Task Force respondent replied that: 
That is not the case, even if they give them that opportunity, they will not select us. The 
police in this town are not helping matters at all. They only come into situation when it’s 
between you and your girlfriend. Because most of their duties is being controlled by the 
Assembly members, for instance to calm situations down, or to maintain peace and stability, 
it is the Assembly members who perform that role. If you go there right now with your issue, 
they know that they are there, and you have brought them money [Mr Yaro] 
This response was the Task Force’s complaint on how the police behaved  towards them in the 
community. He assumed that the police would not have considered working with them if that 
decision was to be made by them. However, the Assembly members gave them a different 
treatment by responding to their calls and this act makes them feel important. The respondent 
deviated slightly from the issue that was being discussed, but his focus was on the unjust treatment 
of the police to their agency and the community.  
4.10.5. Power struggle 
Goris and Walters (1999) mentioned that tensions ensue from power struggle over who is the 
leader or who calls the shots. This was evident in Asesewa, when replies from respondents 
indicated that there was uncertainty among the agencies regarding who calls the shots. The 
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narratives below are the responses given when respondents were asked who calls the shots in crime 
prevention in Asesewa. Mr. Teye from the court replied that: “The court and the police, before the 
District Assembly”. He gave this response because these two agencies are constitutionally 
mandated to deliver crime preventive services to communities. 
The participant was further asked who called the shots between the police and the court. The 
respondent from the court replied by saying that: “We are above the police, if we say yes nobody 
can say no” … [Mr. Teye]. This is because the court arbitrates criminal cases and can be said to 
be the final agency to determine whether a criminal is convicted or acquitted (Bala & Anand, 
2000). The respondent is therefore assuming that the court calls the shots when it comes to crime 
prevention in the community. 
Another response from the Task Force participant indicated that, they yearn for the power and 
authority to operate, which they are being deprived of by other agencies. Katsaura (2012) 
mentioned that the struggle for power, prestige and fame among actors could cause tensions among 
agencies as well. 
They are to give us some authority to empower us to work. Because if I see someone 
smoking, I can arrest the person, and hand over the person to the police without touching the 
person, to handle them. But no one fears us I wonder why they are calling us task force. We 
have been under training, no uniform, no allowance, some of the guys are stopping because 
they felt that there is no respect and fear for us. And the motivation is not coming [Mr Yaro] 
The complaint of the respondent is an indication that, the agencies yearn for the power to 
operate and it has become a challenge for them since they believe that, they have not been given 
the legal right to exercise the power which they believe they should have. They are craving for 
power and they also want to be feared by the people, and this discourages most of them and 
causing them to back off from the agency.  
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Another thing that resulted from the interview is that one respondent declared that the police were 
strangers, and they were there to work for them (the Assembly), and the fact that the police would 
one day leave the town but the people in the community would continue to be there. The statement 
below is a narration by the respondent… 
The Assembly represents the government, when I mean the police are under us, I mean they 
are working for us, they come, and they leave but we are still around. The police are here to 
work for the community, it is our town. The community members own the town, so the 
police are there to serve them [Mr. Kwasi] 
The informant argued that the community belonged to them, hence the police agency is under 
their authority. He claimed that the police come and leave, however, the “owners of the land” 
never leave and therefore the police agency has to serve the people in the community. 
4.11 Improving the relationship among cooperating agencies 
The study set out to find solutions to the various challenges and look out for ways to improve the 
relationship among agencies. The literature on conflict resolution indicated that there can be formal 
and informal ways of settling tensions among agencies. It therefore suggested communication 
among the various agencies that eases the kind of conflict that may arise (Cherney, 2004b). 
The Narrative below is proof from a respondent that communication is needed to settle some 
disputes among agencies. Tensions are resolved at the root before they grow into a problem that 
cannot be controlled, and in the situation where the tension arises, they ensure that there is an 
amicable settlement among the various agencies. The participant from the District Assembly 
recounts below: 
There are two ways of settling uprising tensions: if we observe that matters could create 
conflict, we go in to diffuse it before it even occurs. In a situation where it comes abruptly, 
we quickly halt the actors and ensure that you have an amicable settlement, you have an 
understanding, you have a compromise where necessary and then you move on… [Mr. Mate] 
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The narration implied that conflicts occur, nevertheless, the problem is tackled at the root before 
it matures and becomes overwhelming. There are no cooperating agencies without conflicts 
because, these agencies come on board with different expectations which if not met create the 
tensions (Shearing & Wood, 2003).  
The respondent was further asked the stage at which they put in effort to settle conflicts. He 
responded that “conflicts are solved at the initial stage because if you allow it to escalate, you will 
be in trouble, you cannot deal with it” [Mr. Mate].  
The informant from the Task force believes that the relationship between the police and the Task 
Force can be improved if the Assembly officially introduces the Task Force to the police for 
recognition and legalises their operation; then they will be happy to operate. The respondent 
narrated that the “relationship can be improved when the Assembly introduces the task force to 
the police service, for them to recognise us and invest authority into us and give us power to 
operate” [Mr. Yaro] 
For effective crime prevention, there is the need to involve the members of the community since 
they are familiar with their environment and can expose hardcore criminal hideouts to the police 
(Hope & Karstedt, 2003). Therefore, to improve the relationship between the police and the people, 
the police participant responded that “more of public engagement. The government should give 
funds to engage the people. The police — public relation must also be improved and be cordial for 
the public to assist in crime detection” … [Mr. Teye]. This purports that for crime prevention to 
be effective in Asesewa, there is the need to involve the community members and to develop a 
good relationship with them  
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Another set of measures by respondents focused on methods to improve crime prevention. The 
narratives are found below. 
The local Governance Act 936, 2016 mandates the Assembly to provide for the police to embark 
on crime preventive exercises, therefore, they are calling on the Assembly to step up its game of 
provision to enhance crime preventive activities by providing fuel, ensuring that the roads are in 
good shape and providing street lights. A participant who is an Assembly Member replied that: 
“The Assembly must help the police to patrol by fuelling their vehicles, providing streetlights, 
clearing the roads to prevent armed robbery” … [Mr. Kwasi]. The Assembly provides the needed 
resources for the various agencies to enable them to perform their duties effectively. This is a 
vertical flow of relationship (Shearing & Wood, 2003). 
The respondent from the School Management Committee believes that the other agencies should 
understand the work their agency performs, and the District Assembly should invest in the SMC 
to encourage the members to embark on more monitoring exercises to educate the students and the 
parents more. He responded by saying that…  
There should be an understanding of the work of the School Management Committee 
because without them it will be difficult to run the Schools both at the local level and at the 
district level and there should also be bye-laws and policies to monitor the likes of the 
students… [Mr. Kene,] 
This implied that the various partners do not understand each other’s roles in the partnership 
(Makin & Marenin, 2017). This has created discontentment among some of the agencies in 
Asesewa and they feel that the best way to manage the situation is for the Assembly to recognise 
their role in crime prevention and make policies to restrict students from going against rules and 
regulations, which could lead to juvenile delinquency.  
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Another approach to improve crime prevention in Asesewa is the call on the government to give 
some assistance to the agencies that are working voluntarily to motivate them to work efficiently 
and provide job opportunities for the youth in the community to keep them busy. Below are the 
narratives of participants “We are appealing to the government to give us some allowance for 
motivation” … [Mr.Narh]. The agencies believe that they can perform better when they are 
motivated. 
 
Another respondent from the Assembly Members also gave a similar view that the government 
must make provision to ensure that agencies that are working voluntarily receive some allowances 
to motivate them to continue with the work they are doing. The respondent replied that “the 
government must give the Assembly Members some allowance to motivate them” … [Mr. Kwao]  
 
When the natural means to achieve life goals are not available, people from the middle class try to 
use alternative means to attain the goals (Abotchie, 2012). A respondent from the Dademantse 
Union explained that, “Unemployed youth are those who steal; therefore, the government can help 
put up factories in Asesewa that would give employment to the youth to prevent them from 
engaging deviant activities” … [Mr. Kwame]. The respondent was implying that the youth in 
Asesewa who engage in criminal activities, do so because there are no job opportunities for them. 
Thus, it will be expedient for the government to make provision for job opportunities in the 
community.  
 
Furthermore, to improve the work of the various partners in crime prevention, it will be important 
to invest in the relationship among the partnering agencies, to ensure that they relate well with one 
another to create a better atmosphere for crime prevention. One of the respondents gave an example 
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of how unprofessional the police could be and recommended that they should check their attitude.  
Below are the excerpts: 
Assembly Members believed that the police must put aside their personal feelings and put on the 
attire of professionalism to earn the trust of the people in the community. As Mr Kwao, an 
Assembly Member put it this way: “the police must be professional, they must put their personal 
feelings aside when working”  
A Unit Committee Member similarly was of the view that, the police should be able to hide the 
identity of informants as demanded by their professional code of ethics. This will prevent people 
from hating informants and allow people to inform the police of criminal activities in the 
community to aid their work. He alluded to the story of Sampson and Delilah in the Bible. This is 
because he perceived that the police were dating the women in the community and therefore release 
secrets to them, and the women in turn spread the information which was supposed to be kept 
among the police only. Below is his narration: 
The police should be professional in their job, professional in the sense that when people 
come to report to them, they don’t reveal their identities. Because when they get to know 
who reported, the person will be reported (lℇ ni tsℇ eba bio no fia se emaya gu he kpaᾱ 
meaning, the person will not hurt you directly but will use other dubious means to hurt you). 
The police are very friendly with the people in the town, some going out with the women, 
so they end up relaying information to them like Samson and Delilah.  
I remember an incident that happened here, the guy repaired phone for somebody and there 
was an issue, and when the police came he was like wo dier wo be hu sℇ, saa na wo yℇ me 
yere ne phone no, wo dier ye dru station nu wo be hu meaning you will see, that is what you 
did to my wife’s phone, I will teach you a lesson when we get to the police station. That’s a 
personal way of dealing with the issue, if you have an issue with the person, not when 
someone has come to report that you release your pain on the person. The guy had to run, I 
later asked the guy not to run, but he should follow me to the station, when the police saw 
him he started shouting, so I asked him not to shout because he made the guy to run, because 
when you made that statement that when we get to the station , he will see, he felt threatened 
so he run, and I told the police that if he like he can prosecute the case to the court and I will 
go to court to defend the guy. The police should be professional, deal with the crime and not 
to handle matters on the personal level… [Mr. Djaba] 
 
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4.12 Conclusion 
This chapter discussed the findings from the field in relation to the research objectives, with the 
support of the theory of nodal governance. The chapter discussed the various cooperating agencies 
which are the District Assembly, the police, the court, ADR, the Assembly Members, Unit 
Committee Members, and the Dademantse Union.  
The study also focused on the roles and contributions of the partnering agencies to crime 
prevention in Asesewa: every partnering agency has specific duties they perform. Another facet of 
the study also concentrated on the approaches and strategies of crime prevention by the cooperating 
agencies in Asesewa. All the agencies have different strategies they employ as partners in crime 
prevention. 
Again, the study considered the relationship among the agencies and determined how resources 
are mobilised and utilised by the various agencies in crime prevention. The relationship that exists 
among the agencies of the same level are described as horizontal, while the relationship that exists 
between agencies at the lower level and the source of resources is termed vertical.  
Furthermore, the factors underpinning cooperation and contestation and the implications of these 
to crime prevention in Asesewa have been discussed in the study. And finally, the study examined 
the measures to facilitate crime prevention.   
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CHAPTER FIVE 
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 
Introduction 
The act of cooperation among agencies to prevent crime was promoted by Western Criminologists, 
Criminal Justice Scholars, politicians and practitioners to facilitate efficient crime prevention 
(Hills, 2014). It is assumed that the state agencies of crime prevention, namely the police and the 
courts cannot fight crime alone, and hence there is the need to involve other stakeholders such as 
the churches, the schools, and community organisations to wage war on crime. As it was noted in 
the literature that the authority of the sub-state has been weakened by the introduction of the state 
agencies (Akpabli-Honu, 2009; Baker, 2012), it has been discovered in Asesewa that the 
Dademantse Union, which represents the traditional authority in arbitrating criminal issues and 
ensuring security (before the introduction of the state agencies) has lost its authority to arbitrate 
some cases such as defilement and rape. Now they only handle trivial cases such as marital issues 
land disputes, and destruction of property by animals, even with that, cases of destruction of farm 
produce by cattle belonging to Fulani herdsmen are beyond their control.   
The nodal governance theory explained that, nodes are outcome-generating systems and they can 
produce good results such as happiness, joy and problems such as shoddy work, sadness, pain, 
pressure etc. The theory also explained that nodes work to support each other however, there is 
contestation among them. From the study, it was revealed that various agencies in Asesewa 
cooperate as a team to fight crime even though they have their individual roles. However, there 
are situations which produce tensions and displeasure among the agencies.  
The study set out to investigate the cooperation and contestation among the various agencies of 
crime prevention in Asesewa in the Eastern Region of Ghana. This objective was achieved by 
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answering the following questions: Which agencies are responsible for crime prevention in 
Asesewa? What are the strategies that they employ in the governance of crime? How are the 
agencies able to collaborate and which one takes up the role of mobilizing the other agencies 
towards crime prevention? How are resources distributed among nodes on the same level of the 
hierarchy and those at the top of the hierarchy? And finally, what are the contestations that exist 
among the various agencies, and how are these managed? 
5.1.1 Nature of crime in Asesewa 
Every community has some level of criminal activities in it (Owumi & Ajayi, 2013). The study 
has discovered that crime in Asesewa is moderate even though participants responded that, there 
are new criminal acts that are becoming common in the community. This theme also looked at the 
criminal acts in Asesewa, and responses from participants aided to conclude that crimes such as 
rape, defilement and murder are rare. However, some criminal acts are gaining popularity; these 
are burglary, youths committing defilement and the smoking of cannabis. Aside these acts, theft 
was mentioned as the prevalent crime in the community. This could be attributed to the presence 
of the market in the community. 
5.1.2 The Cooperating agencies, their roles and specific contributions to crime prevention 
The research set out to examine the various agencies, their roles and specific contributions to crime 
prevention in Asesewa. Eight active agencies were found responsible for crime prevention in 
Asesewa. These are the District Assembly, with the District Chief Executive as the Chairman of 
the District Security Committee. The DCE is responsible for co-ordinating all activities relating to 
crime prevention and providing resources necessary for crime prevention in the community. The 
police and the court are also present in the community and their primary role is to ensure safety in 
the community. They, however, do not work alone but co-operate with the other agencies of crime 
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prevention.  The Assembly Members are also another agency relevant in crime prevention in the 
community. The community members trust them more than they trust the police because they are 
part of the community. Members feel secure relaying information to them, trusting that their 
identities would be hidden. The Unit Committee Members are a group of people selected by the 
Assembly Members to help them execute their work well as leaders of the community. They also 
fight to prevent crime by liaising with the Assembly Members, the Police and the Dademantse to 
prevent crime in the community. The Alternative Dispute Resolution is also a partnering agency 
which volunteers its services to aid the court by reducing the cases on the desk of the legal 
practitioner. The Task Force was also formed by the District Assembly to aid in crime prevention 
in the community by helping the police with their job. Even though they complained of not being 
recognised in the community by the police, they still play their roles to ensure safety in the 
community. The School Management Committee works with Assembly Members, the 
Dademantse and the District Directorate to educate parents and students on how to live and avoid 
activities that will prevent them from attaining their goals in life. The last agency is the 
Dademantse. These people work with the Assembly Members, the Unit Committee Members, and 
the police to prevent crime. When they get a case that is beyond their control, they call on the 
police to intervene.    
5.1.3 Cooperative strategies of crime prevention 
The partnering agencies, which are the police, the court, the District Assembly, the Assembly 
Members, Unit Committee Members, the Task Force, the School Management Committee and the 
Dademantse Union employ different strategies to prevent crime. The strategies and approaches 
undertaken by the agencies are socially-oriented crime preventive measures and the western 
conventional methods. Social measures, i.e. education, mentorship, training, the conventional 
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method, and apprehension were discussed as the methods used by the partnering agencies to wage 
war against crime in Asesewa. 
5.1.4 The Cooperation  
There are factors that influence the cooperation of the various agencies of crime prevention in 
Asesewa. Hierarchy has been observed as one factor that influences cooperation among agencies. 
Who calls the shots? As Hummer and Nalla (2003) suggested, there are hierarchies however, 
blurry. There are hierarchies among the agencies in Asesewa, according to the responses; but it is 
not clear who really calls the shots. Another factor is the root of authority of the agencies. What 
has been found from the study is that, some of the agencies such as the Dademantse, the Assembly 
Members, the Unit Committee Members, the School Management Committee, Alternative Dispute 
Resolution and the Task Force receive their authority from the members of the community that 
elected them. The government of Ghana has also made provision for them to operate, making them 
have dual authority. They all have legal backing to operate. 
The relationship among agencies, which is also another factor that influences cooperation has been 
looked at in the study. Hope (1995) mentioned the horizontal and the vertical relationship among 
agencies, and he said that the vertical relation is about the connection between those in authority 
who are the source of resources, and those at the lower level of the ladder. However, the study 
proved that there could be horizontal relation between those at the top and those at the lower level 
in Asesewa since they are all in the community and they work together to maintain security. This 
could be as a result of the fact that all the agencies work towards crime prevention; they are all in 
for the same cause. 
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5.1.5 Resource mobilisation harnessed and utilised by the various agencies 
Resources mobilised towards crime prevention in Asesewa is usually generated from the common 
fund the government gives to the District, and from internally-generated funds from the taxes 
received from the economic activities that are undertaken in the community. Nevertheless, some 
agencies are into self-funding of programmes, because, there is no funding allocated to them. Some 
are also supported by the community members. The lack of support from the District Assembly 
towards some agencies is breeding dissatisfaction and bitterness in some of them. However, some 
believe that it is their duty and whether they receive funding or not, they still must work to earn 
respect.  
Another source of generating resources that cannot be overlooked is funding received from Non-
Governmental Organisations such as Plan International Ghana, UNICEF, Child Development 
Programme-Ghana, the Hunger Project and World Vision etc. 
  
5.1.6 Contestations 
There were some challenges and tensions that were encountered by the various agencies which in 
a way hinder crime prevention. For instance, some of the challenges are the lack of resources, 
inadequate staffing, and improper housing which hinders patrolling (Baker, 2012) etc. There were 
tensions among the agencies as the theoretical framework asserted, that nodes conflict in the 
process of cooperating and this was evident in Asesewa when the other partnering agencies 
complained that the state agencies, especially the police were being unprofessional in the way they 
executed their duties. Baker (2012) stated that some of the state actors are untrained. There were 
suspicions of budget misappropriation. The police also complained that other partnering agencies 
such as the Assembly Members played politics with criminal cases because of their quest for votes, 
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which hinders their work. There were issues of lack of recognition and power struggle among the 
agencies over who calls the shots in crime prevention. It was also discovered that there are conflicts 
or tensions, but they do not get the chance to mature, because they are tackled at the base. So, even 
though the respondents argued that there were no tensions among them and the relationship that 
exists among them is cordial, the study found out that there are issues which creates tensions 
among them. 
5.1.7. Conclusion of the Study 
In conclusion, the study found eight active partnering agencies of crime prevention in Asesewa 
who cooperate to prevent crime, and whose work is perfectly co-ordinated by the District 
Assembly. Resources are mobilised towards their common goal through governmental support, 
NGO support, internally- generated funds or self-sponsoring. Even though there are challenges 
and contestations, they do not shelve their responsibilities of crime prevention but rather search 
for ways to improve their work. Therefore, nodal governance in Asesewa is working because the 
nodes are producing good results even though there are some problems; but it cannot be termed as 
a metaphor of nodal governance, where there are agencies in place however, the act of contestation 
outweighs the act of cooperation as Hills (2014) described the situation in Kano, Nigeria. The 
challenges in Asesewa are characteristics of nodal governance. 
 
5.2 Recommendations 
From the findings, to improve the relationship among the various agencies and to aid crime 
prevention, the research advocates that: 
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1. The government should make provision for the other partnering agencies who offer 
voluntary services to receive some monthly allowance to motivate them to give off their 
best. 
2. The various agencies need to be educated on how to execute their duties effectively while 
cooperating so that they do not fall into anyone’s terrain of operation which may lead to 
tension 
3. The police should be trained to be more professional in their work to regain the trust of the 
public in criminal investigations. 
4. The District Assembly should make provision for more formal jobs or some source of 
income for the youth, to deter them from engaging in criminal acts for sustenance. 
5. Finally, the housing lay out must be worked on to make it possible for the police to patrol 
with vehicles or to move to any crime scene easily when called on. 
 
5.3. The Limitations of the Study and Gap for Further Studies 
Even though the study was able to achieve what was set out to achieve, some limitations were 
encountered on the field. First, most of the respondents were interviewed at their workplaces which 
made access to information easy, however, they could not pay full attention.  This was because the 
interview sessions were interrupted intermittently. That notwithstanding, the researcher managed 
to interview them. Another limitation was the fact that some of the respondents were not 
forthcoming with answers because of the presence of other people who were passing by or who 
had stopped to listen to what was going on. Some onlookers tried to suggest ideas to some 
respondents, however, the researcher found a way to discourage them from doing so. And finally, 
the number of people that were interviewed were sixteen which seemed small; however, the 
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findings are valid because there were eight agencies which were examined, meaning there were 
more people from some of the agencies to confirm the answers that were being provided. 
For further studies on cooperation and contestation in crime prevention, one can compare the 
situation of Asesewa with other communities that do not have the state agencies present to examine 
how the agencies cooperate. Another study can investigate the agencies in crime prevention and 
involve the community in the study; since the agencies are in the community, they need the help 
of the community members to prevent crime. 
 
5.4 Contribution to knowledge 
The study has added to the literature on nodal governance in Africa, specifically, looking at the 
cooperation and contestation among agencies in crime prevention in Asesewa. It has also added to 
the literature on partnership among agencies of crime prevention and the challenges that they 
encounter during partnership. Finally, the research has made some recommendations which if 
followed, can improve the relationship among agencies and make the people happy in the work 
they do.  
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APPENDIXES 
Appendix 1: Ethical Clearance 
  
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              UNIVERSITY OF GHANA 
Official Use only 
Protocol number 
  
Ethics Committee for Humanities (ECH)  
 
PROTOCOL CONSENT FORM  
 
 
Section A- BACKGROUND 
INFORMATION 
 
Title of Study:  Aa Co-operation and Contestation in Crime Prevention in Asesewa in the Eastern Region 
of Ghana 
 
Principal Asare Gloria Mateko  
Investigator: 
 
Certified Protocol  ECH 113/18-19.  
Number 
 
Section B– CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE IN 
RESEARCH 
 
General Information about Research 
The study of co-operations and contestations among agencies in Asesewa is intended to evaluate 
the various agencies of crime prevention both state and non-state agencies. And how they co-
operate in crime prevention and to examine if there are any forms of contestations among them in 
their effort to prevent crime.   
Participants are to give a minimum of an hour and a maximum of three hours of their time to 
answer the interview questions. 
Participants consent will be sought and informed that answering any question is voluntary and they 
can decide to pull out from the interview at any given time. They will be interviewed with the aid   
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APPENDIX II: SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEW GUIDE 
I am a final year MPhil Sociology student carrying out a research on the Co-operations and 
Contestations in Crime Prevention in Asesewa, in the Eastern Region of Ghana for academic 
purpose. I will be very grateful if you would provide answers to the following questions. Please, 
be assured that the information provided will be used for academic purposes. Your name is not 
required.  
Time of Interview: 
Date: 
Place: 
Interviewer: 
Interviewee: 
Position of Interviewee: 
(Briefly describe the project) 
SECTION A: SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF RESPONDENTS 
• Age 
• Sex: Male / Female 
• Level of education 
• Affiliated Agency (State Agency or Non-State Agency, kindly specify) 
• Office occupied/ Position 
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• Number of years one has been with the agency (1-5 years, 6-10 years, 11-15 years and over 
16 years. Kindly specify) 
SECTION B: SCOPE OF CRIME IN ASESEWA 
• What is your view of crime in this town? 
• What are the types of crime present in Asesewa? 
• What is your definition for crime prevention? 
SECTION C: ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF AGENCIES 
• What role does your agency play in crime prevention? 
• What are some of the methods you employ in crime prevention? 
• Who ascribes the roles and responsibilities of the agencies (power and distribution of 
power)? 
SECTION D: CO-OPERATION 
• Which agencies do you cooperate with in crime prevention? 
• Which agency do you frequently work with? 
• How do you work with the agency mentioned above? 
• What is the relationship between your agency and the other agencies in crime prevention? 
• How do you co-operate with other agencies in crime prevention? 
• What are some of the activities you undertake in conjunction with other agencies? 
SECTION E: CONTESTATION: 
• Do you encounter any challenges when partnering with other agencies? 
• If yes, what are some of the challenges you encounter? 
• What causes the challenges mentioned above? 
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• How are you able to manage the challenges to ensure that your objective as an agency is 
achieved? 
• How do you manage criminal issues to make sure such an act deters others from 
committing similar offence?  
  
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Appendix III:  
Figure 1: Map of Upper Manya District, showing the study area-Asesewa, the administrative 
seat of the District. 
 
Source:https://image.slidesharecdn.com/uppermanyaeben-170217093703/95/upper-manya-
eben-1-638.jpg?cb=1487324299- 
  
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Appendix IV: Socio-Demographic Characteristics of Participants 
Table 2: `Age Frequency of Respondents 
Age of Respondents Frequency Percentage 
30-45 years   7 46% 
46-55 years 6 40% 
56-65 years 1 7% 
65-75 years 1 7% 
 
 
Source: Fieldwork, 2019 
Table 3: Educational level of respondents 
Educational Level Frequency Percentage 
Middle School Leavers  4 27% 
Secondary School Level 5 33% 
Tertiary Level 6 40% 
Source: Fieldwork, 2019  
Table 4: Duration of Service with the Agency 
Duration with an Frequency Percentage 
Agency 
0-6 years 12 80% 
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7-12 years 1 7% 
13-20 years 2 13% 
Source: Fieldwork, 2019 
 
 
 
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