Open Letter To The IGP

Attention: Mr. Patrick Acheampong Inspector General of Police Police Headquarters Accra Ghana Re: Institutional Ineptitude and Professional Anomie Within the Upper Hierarchy of the Criminal Investigations Department: DD/CID, Patrick Ampewuah, a Case Study Dear Sir,

In many of my futile efforts to seek audience with you, I am publishing this written indictment on Ampewuah's ill mannerism and lack of verbal articulation on basic issues. While the upper-level management of the Ghana Police is quick to attribute institutional flaws and decadence in the Service to junior officers, my conversation with Ampewuah dated 14/09/05 suggests otherwise. His derision for others and his lack of patience to listen and savour substantive interpersonal communication is an epitome of the pervasiveness of ill training within an institution that is infected with post-colonial arrogance, impressionism and rigidity, which is further compounded by inflated titles and individual incompetence.

On the date stated above, I called Ampewuah to follow up on the arrest of four technical officers at the Lands Commission whom investigations confirmed were responsible for the theft of my land, the falsification of government documents and the sale of my land with the complicity of Emmanuel Roger Amudzi, a known land guard and fraudster with extensive connections at the Lands Commission. Not only were the said officers with the connivance of Roger Amudzi able to sell my land to Richard Osae-Duodu, they were also able to insert his name on the Commission's official records. While Ampewuah expressed the Lands Commission's indignation to honour his request to release the investigated officials for questioning. I sought the help of the Minister of Lands and Forestry who was willing to release the men for questioning should Ampewuah formally request in writing that he does so.

Ampewuah's response was that I could not seek justice in the country because I live outside the country. This was not only preposterous, but it demonstrates of his lack of understanding with regard constitutional provision(s) and the protection of citizen rights irrespective of their residence. By telling me that the extent of administrative corruption at the Commission was not news and that he lost his land to fraudsters was uncharitable at best. Ampewuah's temperament and inability to exercise professional decorum further explains his numerous investigative debacles and catalogue of failed investigative inquiries and breakthroughs into cases of primary criminality.

Ampewuah's satisfaction with shoddy investigative work and quick fixes (i.e. prosecuting the weakest link instead of the entire unit of an elaborate and extensive criminal network at the Lands Commission) does not treat the canker to the core. Rather, it leaves the rot to fester, making the problem immune to further investigative attempts to address it. As the Deputy Director of CID, one would at least expect Ampewuah to be open to new ideas, a trait which I find absent.

Under the provision of criminal investigative work, all complaints of criminality should be given the attention they deserve. The excuse that police resources did not match up with the exponential rise in crime is an unjustifiable excuse which fosters a culture of apathy within an institution that still struggles to redeem and reclaim its waning image as one of the most corrupt sectors of the state. The nation cannot afford the replications of the likes of Ampewuah, who bask in task delegation but have little interest in upholding the supremacy of the law and its protective provisions against citizens who, either by commission or omission, breach social contract

Such an unprofessional attitude from the highest police order makes me and the general public wonder whether the Ghana Police Service is truly committed to its traditional mission philosophy which is to “serve and protect” the state and its citizens. Ampewuah's lack of passion and exhibition of basic detective prerequisites demonstrates otherwise. The Ghana Police Service is an institution that is mandated by the constitution to maintain and reproduce social order. The dismal record of the CID to neutralize social dysfunctions points to the offer of nerve-wracking openings to the inexperienced who see the service as an income-generating institution and their rank as an elevator to fame and social standing. Ampewuah needs more professional education on investigative discourse than he currently would make us believe.

I look forward to seeing verifiable and measurable reform in the service. Thank you.

Yours truly. Nana Amma Obenewaa