Security within Kumasi and its environs have been tightened ahead of Sunday’s commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II. About 420 police officers drawn from various regions have been deployed to beef up security in the Kumasi metropolis and the entire region to ensure law and order during the anniversary on Sunday, April 26, 2009. The Ashantehene, known in his private life as Nana Kwaku Dua, succeeded his late uncle Otumfuo Opoku Ware II in 1999. During a visit to the region, the acting IGP, Elizabeth Mills Robertson, was informed by the acting Regional Police Commander, ACP Kwasi Mensah Duku, that security would be intensified at some identified hotels and residences. He also assured that visiting guests would be given the needed protection throughout the celebrations. Giving a brief account of the state of security in the Ashanti Region, Joy News correspondent Ohemeng Tawaih reported that the region recorded a reduction in crime in the first quarter of this year. Fifty-eight robbery cases were recorded in the first quota as compared to 76 during the same period last year. He reported that out of the 30 suspected robbers arrested, 15 have been convicted while the rest are on remand. The police, he noted, killed six robbers who engaged them in a shootout at various locations in the Kumasi metropolis whilst others escaped with gunshot wounds from January to March. The military would also support the day and night patrols with the view of reducing crime in general during and after the celebrations. Meanwhile the Asantehene is expected to honour some former African heads of states at a grand durbar at the Baba Yara Sport Stadium tomorrow. Former heads of state expected to receive awards include Ghana’s John Agyekum Kufuor and Jerry John Rawlings. Others are ex-Sierra Leonean president Alhmed Tijan Kabah and Benjamin William Mkapa of Tanzanian. The rest are Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and Bostwana’s Festus Mogae. Story by Isaac Essel/Myjoyonline.com