We’re Surprised At Sophistication Of Recruitment Scam—Ghana Police

The Police Administration has expressed surprise at the sophistication and magnitude of the recent fake police recruitment scandal.

“We were, however, convinced that the new recruitment system, whose implementation began with the last recruitment exercise undertaken in 2014, would expose any attempts to corrupt the system,” it said in a statement.

The police, it said, would “leave no stone unturned in getting to the bottom of this case”, stressing that “anybody, whether within or outside the Police Service, found culpable will be made to face the law”.

It said the Special Investigations Taskforce (SIT) undertaking the investigations, which is under the direct leadership and supervision of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), would do everything possible to establish the culprits behind that act.

According to the statement, the SIT had made a significant breakthrough in investigations into the recruitment fraud which came to light on Saturday, February 28, 2015.

It, therefore, urged the public to exercise restraint and wait for regular updates on the investigations.

It said initial investigations by the SIT had since led to the arrest of seven persons, including two police officers.

Out of the suspects arrested, two of them, identified as Aisha Asumda, alias Aisha Boku Masi, a 36-year-old shea butter seller suspected to be the mastermind of the scam, and her accomplice, Alifa Adams, alias Abass, a 27-year-old unemployed, were arrested at Tesano and Adenta, respectively, following a tip-off.

The five other suspects apprehended at various locations across the country include Amos Brown, 40, a radio presenter; General Corporal Gideon Sarpong of the Visibility Unit of the Ghana Police Service, Takoradi, and Constable Ruth Agyiri, 27, of the Central Police Station, Koforidua.

The rest are Pastor Paul Danso from Tarkwa and Richard Harrison, 30.

Further investigations by the task force have uncovered evidence implicating the Director-General of the Human Resource Department of the Police Service, Mr Patrick Timbilla, the statement said.

In line with the Police Administration's Public Confidence Re-affirmation Programme and the relevant police legal framework, it said, the IGP interdicted Mr Timbilla, on March 5, 2015.

It explained that “this action is also aimed at avoiding any interference in the ongoing investigations”.

Meanwhile, the Police administration has stated that Mr Timbilla is not under house arrest.

He, however, needs the permission of the SIT investigating the recruitment scam into the police before travelling.

The Director-General of Public Affairs of the Ghana Police Service, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Reverend David Nenyi Ampah-Bennin, told the Daily Graphic yesterday that Mr Timbilla needed the permission of the SIT to travel because the case in which he had been implicated was still under investigation.

That, he said, meant that Mr Timbilla's assistance could be needed anytime by the SIT.