Fixing the Country Agenda- Supportive of My Police, His Police and Your Police- Open Letter to the Citizenry of Ghana

Folks, despicable reports of Corruption and Abuse of Human Rights in Ghana by USA have been put on the front burner. These two issues have brought the Ghana Police in the Limelight because it is noted for the highest acts of corruption and abuse of human rights. The Ghana Police has also been made a victim of attacks by miscreants, hence another issue on the front burner being spearheaded by Atinka TV etc. Hence, my take or this submission for your supportive of the Ghana Police, a creature of the 1992 Constitution.

Folks, due to the Abuse of Human Rights by the Police, which is a State Agency under the Executive Arm of Government, a lot of talks on the need for the Independence of the Police from the Executive Arm of Government have been made by a lot of the Citizenry. Surprisingly the affected persons included intelligentsias’ especially seasoned professors in political science. This and others has made some of the Citizenries demanding for the amendment of the 1992 Constitution to make the Ghana Police to be an Independent Body from the executive, so that IGP or Police Commissioner One and the other Police Commissioners should not be appointed by the President. This demand for Police Independence has made matters on Independent Executive Bodies especially the Electoral Commission (EC) of late as an elephant in the Room (controversial issue).

So, as part of the Fixing the Country Agenda, let me tackle why the President must appoint the IGP (or Police Commissioner One) and the other Police Commissioners, thus an elephant in the Room or controversial issue of Independence of Executive Bodies before I expatiate on the topic. Folks, this demand for the Ghana Police to be an Independent Body is an erroneous impression. Those school of thought with this demand need to revise their notes and they will appreciate that the Executive Arm of Government is to implement and enforce the laws for the maintenance of law and Order and the Police is the State tool for enforcement of law and Order as well as for keeping the Peace and Security. Also, Society needs protection by the police and from the Police and these have both social and political repercussions.

So, the Police as Executive Body specially as an arm of State Executive Power, thus, the police work on behalf of the regime in power. So the Regime or President in Power must appoint the high echelon Officers of the Police. He or she must control the gun. But, Police power must be used according to or for law and order and not to the whims of a ruler or Politician or the police officer, so the Police Administration and the Police operations are in the hands of the IGP or Commissioner Number One, the first among equals (centris paribus) of Commissioners and his fellow Commissioners. Consequently, Democratic policing requires that the Police to be accountable to an outside authority thus it must be under elected civilian control authority, which the people through the Constitution have granted popular sovereignty supremacy through a Presidential election therefore answerable or accountable to them.

Consequently, Police performance is guided by three minimum needs namely (1). Operating within and keeping the rule of the law, (2). Transparency and accountability and (3.). Acting in service of the public in a procedurally fair manner. This situation may be said to be democratic policing, Hence adherence to these requirements can help improve the legitimacy (acceptability) or image of the Police, since sovereignty of Ghana resides in the People of Ghana and the powers of the government are to be exercised in the manner and within the limits in the Constitution as in section 1 of Article 1 of the 1992 Constitution, it therefore demands that the guns or the Police must be put under the Control of the elected civilian authority hence the Police must be subordinated under Cabinet position, that of the Ministry of Interior, hence the President must appoint the IGP in addition to the CDS, Service Commanders etc who are also subordinated under Cabinet position, that of the Ministry of Defence. So nowhere in the World that the National or Federal Police is independent of an elected civilian authority.

It should be made clear to all of the three Arms of Government namely Judiciary for Judicial function, Parliament for enactment of Laws/Oversight role and the Executive for implementation and enforcement of law and order. All State institutions neither under the Judiciary nor under the Legislature are part of the Executive Arm of Government; hence they cannot be an island by themselves so the big guns or shots of these Agencies will be appointed by the President on the advice of the Council of State and upon approval by Parliament as required by the 1992 Constitution.

So the EC, NCCE, Auditor General, Bank of Ghana etc are merely independent or Autonomous Executive Bodies or Agencies to some extent. Hence, the independence is not absolute because per Constitutions, globally the independence Bodies or Agencies only mean that although, they are part of the Executive Agencies they are independent of the President because they are not subordinated under Cabinet position that is they are outside ambit of Ministries (Ministers) or the Cabinet and also not part of the Office of Government Machinery (Office of the President) coordinated by the Chief of Staff. The Constitution has vested Executive Powers and Emergency Powers as when necessary on the President and he or she is the number Citizen of the State.

Their Autonomy only make them to enjoy regulatory or rule making authority and are insulated from Presidential Control particularly the President’s power to sack the Head or member is limited. That is to say though they are appointed by the President their removal is by a strong cause and not at the pleasure of the President like the Ministers or the IGP etc who can be removed without cause.

Since the topic is on peace and security matters, please let me also add that the notion that persons of partisan background cannot be appointed as members of or the board members of an Independent Executive Body or Commission like the EC is erroneous because if it is so the framers of the Constitution will have said so or call for resignation. Since the Constitution is silence on that then it is no case if the President appoints Mr Anyidoo or Dr Kabila or Hon Martin Amidu or Anatu Bogobiri as a member of the EC. It only implies that once appointed the person must act fairly or impartially.

The Citizenry especially members of Parliament must appreciate this and ensure that the Regulations or Laws (Constitutional Instruments) by the EC are in good order or have element of fairness and candidates must follow Constitutional provisions on the elections by ensuring their Reps do vigilant monitoring and ensure the true reflections of the election are recorded in the Pink Sheets which must be signed and a copy provided to the Rep for future challenge at the EC otherwise at a Court. It is therefore very strange that after several elections, some political leaders have just realized that vigilant at the pooling stations is the game at National election. Honesty is the Best Policy should be the guiding principle of all citizens.

The only Institution which may be said to be almost absolutely Independent is the Judiciary because it is independent of both the executive and legislature arms of Government in the exercise of judicial power. So, the Judiciary exercises judicial power in both judicial and administrative functions only subject to the Constitution. It should be noted that the Judiciary is capable of exercising all three powers of Government because their judgment are regarded as in effect as enactment of laws of the Country and they also exercises Executive powers by an Order of Court or binary executive powers. But this Independence of the Judiciary is even not absolute because the members of the Judiciary especially member of the supreme Court are nominated by the President and are vetted or approved by Parliament and their budget is somehow controlled by both the Executive and the Legislature.

Enter the Ghana Police. The history of Policing in Ghana is contentious, so, as a student of history, in attempt to establish facts please pardon me or help by correcting me if I am not able to navigate effectively through the contentions. The history of Policing in Ghana is that before the Coming of the Europeans, political authority (executive powers, judiciary powers and legislature powers) was in the hands of traditional Leaders (Chiefs and Headsmen) and they engaged local volunteers to do police work hence Ahenfie (in Twi as Chief Palace) Police or Chief’s palace Police. This still exist up to date.

Folks, with the advent of the Portuguese in 1482 especially Diogo De Azambuja with 600 soldiers and others who built the Elimina Castle, later enter the Dutch and the British, the various European traders in addition to the Ahenfie Police, established their security elements or Policing for the protection of their business interest among others. It was in 1831 that professional policing was established by Captain George Maclean, then Governor (Executive Authority) of the Gold Coast with the support of the European traders, he raised resemblance of Policemen about 150 of them for the enforcement of treaties reached with the locals of the Gold Coast and for general protection of the interest of the traders.

1n 1871, when the Colonial masters from UK gained full control of the Gold Coast as a full Crown Colony , they found it expedient to establish a credible force, so 600 Glover Hausas were brought from Northern Nigeria by Commander Glover to the Gold Coast. This body of men formed the Gold Coast Constabulary (law enforcement hence Police Force but with militarization inclination or elements). So in order to divorce the Army elements from the Police that the Gold Coast Police Force was really established in 1894 with 400 of the 600 Glover Hausas men who formed the Gold Coast Constabulary. The Gold Coast Police Force was then led by 6 European Officers for among others, the maintenance of law and order. The remaining 300 formed the Gold Cost Regiment, with the First and Second Battalions of the Gold Cost Army. The Military and Police marching song Bature yaa yi wawa, sergeant major yaa yi wawa kore she yaayiwaa, originated from the Glover Hausas.

It was/is well established that the colonial police departments were designed to subjugate and suppress colonial subjects, prevent and curb rebellions and secure the political and economic interest of Britain. The African Police officers were poorly paid and this gave birth to the root of corruption in the DNA of the Police. Corruption was so rampant and officially engrained in the Gold Coast Police that it was perceived as a dogma that to subjugate the native the native Policeman had to be subjugated in order to ensure his loyalty/obedience to the command of the British Officers.

hat is to say, the native police needs to be a little disempowered to ensure their obedience to their masters to prevent rebellion from the police and ensure that orders given are executed with alacrity even if it required them turning of the blind eye to police corruption so far as police were able to deal with violence and the subjugation or repression of the locals. It must be noted that this inherited framework of colonial policing was not peculiar to the Gold Coast but it was a global phenomenon and continued to guide some acts of policing in modern times. So the issue of corruption and human right abuse in contemporary police has plagued the police and thus contributing to the delivery of poor policing and thus led to or leading to the attacks by some of the Citizens.

So, Police corruption and politicization are linked to a legacy of colonial policing which was designed and developed as an instrument of repression largely against those thought to endanger national security or elite interest. Sadly it remains the order of the day.

As part of reformation of the Ghana Police Force for it to provide very better service to the citizen rather than a tool for subjugation of the citizenry, it metamorphosed into the Ghana Police Service in 1970, by the Police Act 1970 (Act 350) then in 1992 by Article 200 of the 1992 Constitution. But as the saying goes a decorated donkey is still a Donkey or as the Holy Bible declared at Ecclesiastes 1.9 What has happened before will happen again, so the perception of corruption, politicization and repression in the Ghana Police Service is not news what will be news will be any corroborative effort by the Government (the Executive Branch and the ruling party , opposition party, judiciary, Parliament), the Media, CSOs, Citizen and Commanders of the Ghana Police to reduce the perception of corruption, politicization and repression to the barest minimum.

Folk the role of the Police is the same globally, the role includes, among others the maintenance of law and order as well as keeping the peace and ensuring internal security for the Security and Safety of the Nation and the vulnerable assets of the Country which are exposed to the public or in public spaces. The Society or the citizenry needs protection by the police without a call to the Police and from the Police that is when the Police is called upon for her service, so the work of the Police may therefore involve the limitation of some liberties of the citizens or the restrain of his or her activities.

Consequently, attacks on a policeman is a multifaceted global phenomenon, hence like the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ghana Police had and will continue to have her fair share of the associated risks. The public’s impression of the police is based on four factors namely acts by the Police, acts of Political Leaders, media portrayals and personal interactions with citizens. Depending on where one stands, these may lead to mistrust of the Police.

Acts which give bad images to Police/causes of dislike for Policeman & could lead to Attacks

(1). Political, Social, and religious dogma entering the police organization. The concept of the government must control the governed so the police may use undemocratic means to achieve democratic ends (2). Bad governance structure can give a bad image to the Police, political interest, incentives for repression, and insecurities within the Police agency can cause lower morale hence dislike for Policeman. It must be noted that the Legacy of militarized Policing is the core to colonial police organization for the security of the State, Hence, the Police must have the coercive powers of the State to protect national security interest and to be at war with internal enemies of the State (criminals, dissidents, land guards terrorizing the citizens), so it must be noted that militancy drives policing hence the hatred/dislikes. (3). Seemingly, Police Martyrdom without recognition or without adequate national reward as such. Police Officers like the military have joined the services to sacrifice themselves thus they may be killed at war, beaten, and insulted. So it is recommended that compensation for assassinated Police must be good. (4). Egotism by some Police men, (5). Brutalities and corruption practices by the Police.

So, Some Organizational challenges faced by the police. Include political interference, financial hardship, job insecurity these contribute to corruption, police abuse. Issue of bad civil-military relations, rampant crime, political and land guards violence in the Country, (6). The plight of low junior ranked police officers is seldom regarded or known though low junior police officers form about 80 percent of the police numbers and they are the people with whom common citizens have most regular interactions, they have no access to good accommodation, no access to medical care.

All these have made Corruption in the Police as not a product of greediness but a practice engrained in the Police and it is promoted by their Superiors including senior officers in order to meet their demands for or their expectation of payments. Hence, Police corruption may be said to be contingent on criminal activity in a given area and since both feed each other in a system of symbiosis or scratch my back and I will scratch your back. So, corruption by the Police is product of insecurity. Note policemen are required to look for cash to run their stations, to buy fuel or for transportations and to meet demands of high echelons. Failure to do so, may lead to frustration or no promotion, hence corruption in the Police is a work related pressure. (7). Issue of inability to correspond or communicate well with superiors, this causes low relation in the agency, (8). Strain relationship between Senior Officers and the Junior Officers, (9). The use of the Junior Officers by superiors for dirty work, (10). Influencing arrest order from above making the constable to be scapegoated when the situations fail.

Further points are (11). the police as stated was part of the colonial legacy of fostering the citizens to submit to political order and as such the police is always and will continue to be pivotal to state coercive force for the supremacy over the populace, hence tendency of demonizing of the Police by some Political leaders, some CSOs & media (12) Police failure to give much attention to and act with speed to the Complaints from the people. (13) Bad acts like sleeping with spouses of the citizens (14). Poor investigation by the Police which could result in offenders not prosecuted or punished at all or poor prosecution which may lead to lesser punishment and thus spell out suspicion of corrupt acts by the Police and the suspicion of corrupt acts may wrongly affect the siting Judge (15) Police brutalities against a community especially during arrest, stop and search operations, swoop (16) Police is outnumbered.

Further points on dislike for Police Officers include- (17). The reactive nature of some police operation making them not able to deal with incidents properly. That is to say most of the time, Police operations are reactive to incident that is to say only response to calls for their services which sometimes is sluggish due to their number and the poor means of mobility.,(18). Politicians and media casting suspicion on the Police. (19) ill-equipped. The Police lacking in areas of technology especially no good communication to call for support, (20) issue of no clear directives on what the police response should look like when encounter labour, political or social unrest and what could be said to be excessive force may cost the police legitimacy. While those who refused to use force may or could be punished. (21). An issue of polarization and politicization in the Police Service have given an idea of the enemy of my enemy is my friend attitude.

Additional points are (22). Policies made by politicians without police inputs or policies of Government for appeasing radical groups and thus put the police in a bad state. (23). Perceived capture of the police by the elites thus distancing the police from the general populace thus contributing to the Police being mistrusted by the masses with the associated perception of corruption hence the Police is the most dislike institution in the country. (24). Poor intelligence capability. (25). Seemingly lacking in the reward of good acts and the low pay/lack of support make the police sometimes to use their authority to survive, hence root cause of corruption.

(26). The perception of corruption in the police service has made it to have a very low level of effectiveness and fairness thus low level of popular legitimacy,. This circumstance coupled with police brutalities has made the situation to look worse.

Enter the Use of force or use of fire arm by the Police. This is a very contentious matter hence it gives a perception of abuse when lethal weapons are used. But the citizens must know that Force must be used with restraint and only when necessary and proportional to the lawful objective. It therefore calls for use of non-violent means and differentiated use of force or use of force continuum or levels but this is subjected to the appreciation of the Police Officer at the scene. .Fire arms are to be used when there is imminent threat to death or life or serious injury of the policeman or to any person and very important Asset. It must be used after when the police has made himself visible, issued a warning of stoppage and or warning for the dispersal of the crowd, failure to obey his lawful order and depending on the gravity of the situation, a shot to a leg of the ringleader, depending situation give medical treatment, after which info the family of the victim and submit report to account for what happened. Hence, this will meet the test of transparency, controllability and accountability/answerability.

So, Folks do not let anyone say a Senior Politician, Academia, Lawyer, etc to fool you when the Policeman or security gives you a lawful and very clear order to disperse or stop conducting an unlawful act including unlawful assembly because section 2 of Article 13 of the 1992 Constitution like the Constitution of any other country including the USA permits him to kill if by his or her judgment that is the force necessary, reasonable to deal with an incident. Hence it is subjective especially in the heat of the moment. Issue of reasonableness is determined by him subject to review by competent court or fact finding commission of inquiry.

Improvement of Police

Police is controlled by the Constitutions, common law or statutes, moral or ethics and accountability, , supervision by his superiors, the Prosecutors. Controlled by Parliament through budget for the police, oversight hearing. The Police are required to go by the belief that it is less evil for a criminal to escape than for the government (thus the Police) to perform ignoble (dishonorable, detestable). Partly controlled partly CHRAJ etc internal control by the Police Administration is done through policy guidelines /SOPs, selection, training, supervision,

Police performance is guided by three minimum needs namely (i).operating within and keeping the rule of the law, (ii). Transparency, Controllability and Accountability and (iii). Acting in service of the public in procedurally fair manner, these may be said to be democratic policing. Hence, adherence to these requirements can help improve the legitimacy (acceptability) or image of the Police. A feature of the Police is the authority to legally use force to deal with lawbreakers and the Police may deprive citizens with their liberty.

Hence, this may render or tempt the Police to make acts opens to abuse and thus opposition by the citizens hence a balance act is required by the police. Reformation can be achieved through (1). not less than nine month training for new recruits and the training should include treatment of vulnerable group, Sociology, Psychology, Criminology, Victimology national security issues, counter terrorism strategy and Non coercive crowd management training and rehearsals. (2). Non coercive crowd management should be part of procedures (SOP) these include negotiating skills, dialogue skills, and how to make good Communication between the police and protesters. (3). Good conducts including refusal to act on unlawful orders, applying the Philosophy of accountability and transparency which include means of identifying the police so that the Police is identifiable through their work, good conducts when making arrest, searches, swoop,

Further improvement is by (4). Fostering cordial and closer relationship with the community (2).provision of CCTV cameras including secret body cameras for recording of incident for investigation and prosecution to deter will be assailants (5). Good investigation and prosecution to enable stiffer punishment for offenders by Judges. (6). Improve the Professionalism of Police through better training, on the job training/workshops to build confidence. (7). Improve credibility of the Police by Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), guidelines/policies to facilitate transparency, controllability and accountability,. (8). Security Cadet Corps training for the youth to instill discipline hence by large into the Society.

Further points include (9). Collaborative partnerships with communities and regular liaison with the Community and establishment of Community policing. The Community support is an essential factor in a police ability to obtain legitimacy and reduce crime. Developing collaborative partnerships with communities enables solving of problems in a creative manner and helps to secure additional resources to tackle social problems. (10). Civic actions including Cleanup campaign, joint physical training with the public. (11). Arrest procedure, Bail and Treatment to Suspects must be reviewed.

At this juncture, please pardon me to drive home this point. The Police are to keep the Peace and Security. So it may be wrong to call for the arrest of a high echelon political figure say Hon Bryan Acheampong or Ex-President Mahama or a Religious figure or traditional leader with the attended repercussion of unlawful assembly, demo, rioting, etc which may lead to the breach of peace and security which Police may be blamable.

So this cacophony that we are equal before the law, so fair treatment is required is just on paper hence it will be easier and peaceful to arrest and handcuff a teacher, who even his or her colleagues or his or her pupils may betray him or her or help to arrest him or her or clap for the police than to arrest and handcuff say a high profile politician like Hon Bryan Acheampong or Ex-President Mahama because everyone knows where to butter his or her bread. So the best is to invite such a high profile person to reduce the wrath of the public or his or her followers. So the police must sometimes apply common sense, negotiation skills, use dialogues or alternative dispute resolution as done by the current IGP with matters on the alleged irresponsible speech or intemperate language by Hon Bryan Acheampong etc.

Further points are, (10).Smart and swift Attention to complaints (11). Review the manner police victims of violence etc. are treated. (12) Visibility policing (13). Outsourcing some duties to PSOs example MTTU to reduce cost and gain more men. One Police Officer may cost not less than a total amount of GHC6,000.00 to the State per month. But between GHC2,500.00 to GHC3,500.00 including VAT, SSNIT, PAYE, cost of uniform, T& T etc per guard per month may be ok for a Private Security Company (PSC) for Private Police work under supervision of few Police Officers to replace the huge numbers of the MTTU personnel.

Additional points are (14). Briefing the public or on cases being handled by the Police. . (15) Effective passages of info to the public by Police Public Relation Directorate and (16) the establishment of Ghana Police TV Channel. (16). Lastly, the Police should Build Espirit De Corps or Team Spirit and build Self Defence capabilities, Note unlike the armed forces due to its organization with cooperate interest and can response rapidly and may be with brutal punitive measures to put fear of God and have the tendency to come to the aid of a colleague like bees when one of them comes under attack, the police may not be able to do so, due to several reasons which include mistrust among them, lack of Espirit De Corps or team spirit. Case study is the recent attack of a Police man at a barrier at Kumawu in the Ashanti Region whilst his two Colleagues failed or refused to go to his aid. It should be noted that, the nature of policing or police work allows self-defense but may not allow a later reprisals when come under attack. This is considered a very good effort to improve the image of the police.

c.. Reform from or Solutions by Government and International Bodies

Institutions which usually exercise institutional oversight over the Police are both Internal or Domestic and International. At the Domestic Level, the Executive Arm of Government, the Legislature and the Judiciary, all play anticipatory oversight role. The Executive Arm of Government does so through appointment, removal process of senior officers and policing policy choice.

Some other solutions by the Government are as follows. (1) Getting the Police to outsource some duties to Private Security Organizations (PSOs) example MTTU to reduce cost and gain more men as stated above. (2)To also to gain more men need to reduce the number of Police Officers for protection of Banks and VIPs, the Government can establish VIP Secret services by the State or by Armed Private Security Companies for the provision of escort and protection Banks, Escort of VIPs Support with additional men, (3). Provision of Admin and logistics supports (sufficient budget, good condition of service, promote and appoint good officers to high Echelons or Senior Police Officers to Commissioners, provide good accommodation, good pay, motor bikes and vehicles, CCTV cameras, communication equipment). (4). Good briefing of the Citizen or awareness program on Police by relevant Ministries like the Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Information/NCCE.

Both the Executive Arm of Government and the Legislature can improve the Police through overseeing or controlling of the budget, expenditure. (5). Establishment of independent Police Complaint Authority for the public to lodge issues affecting policing.

The judiciary plays a reactive institutional oversight by Court injunction ruling, or ruling against police acts, likewise ruling on financial liability and ruling on wrong doing committed by members of the Police. .

c. Solutions by Political leaders /media/ CSOs,/ Citizens – These must act with caution when publicly addressing issues such as police complicity in violence or murder. Must condemn both physical and psychosomatic or emotional attacks on the Police. Political leaders should publicly condemn members and supporters who took part in attack on the Police. Citizens must support the Police with intelligence, help in effecting arrest, not harboring criminals. CSOs and Citizens including Corporate Citizens to provide logistic support including accommodation, vehicle’s, fuel etc

d. Solutions by the Media – whilst we expect the media to expose wrong doing/ victims who feel bad governance, they should also highlight on good conducts and note that not all shortcoming of the Police could be attributed to lack of political will or professionalism or competence so the side of the Police must also be listened to or reported. Some TV Stations to help feature exclusive programs on crime, Crime Scene and Crime Week. Many of these programs sometimes feature crime reenactments, so the highlighting both the crimes and their handling by Police. Apart from generating public awareness of the rights of citizens, these programs have also helped improve the image of police to some extent. Indeed, the media can act as an effective liaison between the public and the Police. It is the acknowledgement of this reality, that the Ghana Police currently has their own TV Channel. This is considered a very good effort to improve the image of the Police.

d. Solution by Council of State National Peace Council/Religious Leaders – monitor and counsel timeously as appropriate or when as it is necessary.