The Police Oath, The Most Sacred Oath But Seemingly Forgotten By Those Who Took It

Every police officer who remembers the oath that he or she took to serve and protect mother Ghana lives in modesty full of commitment, sacrifice and dedication to the cause of the police service and the overall well-being of the ordinary Ghanaian. He or she tries to live out of expectation and above reproach. Such police officers often have problems with their fellow police officers and are in some cases victimized. They are seen to be odd and often referred to as "holier than the pope" police officers.

An oath can simply be defined as a promise or solemn declaration in front of an authority, another person or to oneself. An oath is considered very sacred and must be kept always in order to remain faithful and loyal to a chosen cause. Oaths are chemical bonds of responsibilities that exist between two parties. Some common types of oaths are: Hippocratic oath, oath of allegiance, oath of office, pauper's oath and veterinarian's oath. Oaths have longstanding traditions cutting across religious beliefs , kingship, profession, cultures. Simply put, they are pledges between individuals transcended from ancient times to us in these modern times.

In modern times, there seems to be a reduced reverence for oaths compared to ancient times when the death penalty was the only mitigation for breaking an oath particularly an oath of allegiance. No wonder there is widespread abuse of political and public offices in our country Ghana. People take an oath for the fun of it because it has become a basic requirement one must go through to assume political or public office including the police. No value is placed on oaths now. This has taken the shine away from the responsibilities, commitments, dedication, sacrifice and loyalty of oath taking. Believe me or not, oath taking goes beyond the physical to the spirit realm because it is in the spirits of people that oaths are taken and not for the mere fun of it. It is a spiritual chemical bond that binds oath takers to the responsibilities, commitments, dedication and sacrifice for which they have sworn.

No one is a police officer until he or she takes the police oath of allegiance to the government of Ghana. I and some 98 others reported to Koforidua Police Training School on 30th May, 2008 to start training to become police officers. One of the first requirements was for us to take the police oath. On 12th June 2008, inside the chapel at Gallaway in Koforidua, we stood before the Republic of Ghana and took an oath of allegiance and swore on our lives to protect Mother Ghana at all times. Even though I had a little problem with preparation before the oath was taken, taking the oath itself was a solemn one full of goose pimples on one's skin accompanied by determination and zeal to serve God and country. I expected some orientation to have been done earlier to prepare the minds of yet-to-be police officers about the oath we were taking but that was not done.

Our OC, one ASP Lamptey led us to take the oath. The OC, fanked by Inspector Dogbefu and now Sergeant Offori Atta charged us to live by our oath as police officers. He told us that our journey in the police service had started and for that matter we should prepare ourselves physically, psychologically and mentally to walk our call to be noble police officers. The OC assured us of troubles ahead including death once we had sworn to be police officers. We would sometimes be treated unfairly by our own colleagues in our quest to live by our oaths but we should stick to the end. The atmosphere itself was charged but very serene to remain in one's memory if one truly had an open heart to take the oath in good faith. The blowing wind itself was speech of a thousand words.

The OC cautioned that those who lived by the oath would see the light of day though there would be challenges. Any police officer whom after taking the oath used the uniform for criminal activities would be exposed by the uniform itself since there is a sharp contrast between a criminal and the police uniform. The OC then ushered us into training and handed us over to Inspector Dogbefu who was then the trainer in charge od drills. We had begun a new journey in policing.

Exactly two weeks into the training, ASP Lamptey was transferred and we were handed over to Supt/Mr. Nuhu Jango Alhassan now ACP and Divisional commander, Nima. He was a man who brought a lot of dynamism to our training and took his time to correct some perceptions we had about the police and some perceptions the police also had about us.

We were taught constable maxims where we were supposed to treat the general public with utmost civility and respect. We were to treat all people without prejudice, to respect the dignity the rights of all Ghanaians. We were to be trustworthy and confidential. We were to possess all the positive attributes to make our society safer for ourselves, our families, friends and the general Ghanaian public. Mr Alhassan also reminded us to also live by our oaths.

After 8 months of rigorous training, we passed out successfully. The former Director-General of CID Mr. Frank Adu-Poku who reviewed the passing out parade in his address reminded us to live by the oaths we took as police officers. We were to always insist on the right things though they would come with challenges. At every aspect of our training, we were reminded of the oath we took and the fact that we should abide by it always.

I don't remember anywhere in our 8 months training at Koforidua Police Training School where we were taught armed robbery, defiling of children and raping of women. I don't remember where we were taught extortion and all forms of corruption coupled with the drug trade where some police officers are alleged to be couriers. No and never! These subjects were never in our curriculum. The question is how then did these miscreants find themselves in the police and drag the name of the service into disrepute? Did they really take the police oath? Did they understand it?

A little research I conducted by interviewing some colleagues indicates that 9 out of 10 police officers have forgotten that he or she had ever taken an oath to serve Ghana. The remaining 1 out of the 10 has forgotten the exact words he or she took as an oath although they somehow remember that they did say something. We have lost the value of the sacred oath we took in allegiance to Mother Ghana. Maybe that is the reason why we are seeing an increased trend of police involvement in crimes lately.

Oaths can always be retaken and I think that is what we should do as a service to renew our commitments, dedication and sacrifice to Mother Ghana.

We should live by our oath because it sacred.
Ahanta Apemenyimheneba Kwofie III
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