EX-POLICE OFFICER CALLS FOR SHAKE-UP IN THE POLICE SERVICE
A former lone crusader in the Police Service, Supt. Avuyi has appealed to the Inspector General of Police to reform the service through what he describes as “house-cleaning exercise”.
He said the house cleaning would turn round the negative perceptions about the Service to a more formidable, dynamic and honourable one, worthy of greater public trust and respect.
Speaking to The Chronicle in an interview, Supt. Avuyi said what the service required from the government is total liberation and restoration.
According to him, the police hierarchy appears to lack the courage, commitment and will to bring about positive and qualitative change. He noted that seasoned graduate officers who have assumed top management positions at the National Police Headquarters since 1990, have woefully failed to transform the Service into a formidable one.
“Some security officers have the opinion that this change will only come about if there is less interference from government and Ministers in certain aspects of the administration of the Police Service”, he said, and added that the service has been plagued by major problems stemming from the last 15 years, where certain officers were appointed and forced on the IGP.
Supt. Avuyi, who is now a consultant at the Kofi Annan Peace Keeping Centre, indicated that the IGP must wake up before unscrupulous people run down the service.
Supt Avuyi is a known critic of the Police Service. In 1993, he petitioned the President to complain about what he described as “the unhealthy state of affairs within the service”.
Again, in 1995, he went public to state that the Ghana Police Service was sick, since the officers lived and worked under dehumanizing conditions.
In 2004, he also wrote in the Daily Graphic that the police service was suffering from a disease called 'Acquired Leadership Management Deficiency Syndrome' (ALMDS).
His constant criticism of various administrations of the Service resulted in his demotion.
In September 2002, he was removed as the coordinator of the United Nations development Project (UNDP)/ Ghana Police Service (GPS); policing in a Democracy Thematic Trust Fund.
In March 2003, 12hours before a trip to attend training course in South Africa; he was suddenly pulled out without any reason.
In June 2003, he was denied the opportunity to attend Community Policing Conference in Washington DC and Thailand, in the USA and Bangkok respectively, without any given reason, even though the US Department of Justice was to bear the full cost.
In November 2002, the office in which he worked was given out to another senior officer in his absence, and he remained without an office till his transfer in September 2003.
In September 2003, soon after his transfer to Mampong in Ashanti Region, Dr. Agbenu of the Police Hospital was queried by the administration for granting him two weeks excuse duty.
Supt Avuyi's 34 years in the Police Service has seen modest contributions in the service from him, though fraught with a lot of victimisations, due to his outspokenness.