Call for Parliamentary probe of Police Service

Page 3: May 28, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) has called for a parliamentary inquiry into the operations of the Ghana Police Service.
It said the Parliamentary Committee on Defence and the Interior should take the lead and investigate the Police Service thoroughly to establish the level of corruption, indiscipline and other vices associated with the police and recommend ways to reform the institution.
It said the inquiry should be along the lines of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Judiciary that investigated the level of corruption in the Judicial Service which had resulted in some of the reforms currently underway in the service.
Reacting to the three-member committee set up by the President to review the Kojo Armah Committee Report, the Africa Regional Co-ordinator of the CHRI, Nana Oye Lithur, told the Daily Graphic that it was puzzling for the President to set up such a committee when the government had not officially reacted to the report itself since it was submitted on April 25, 2008.
She wondered why the President had set up a second committee to review the work of the Kojo Armah Committee when the government had not officially responded to the report.
She, therefore, called on the legislature to set up an independent parliamentary inquiry into the cocaine saga.
She said the action of the President showed that the Executive had failed the populace and that since the legislature had oversight responsibility of the Executive, it had to step in to investigate the extent of involvement of the security agencies in the narcotics business, since it had dire implications for the country’s democracy.
Nana Lithur said the problem went beyond the missing cocaine at the CID Headquarters, since the complicity of security personnel in the illicit drug business could be more than what had been exposed.
She said the parliamentary inquiry should involve consultations with all stakeholders, such as traditional authorities, individuals and organisations that used policemen to serve their personal interest at one point or another.
She said the use of vigilante groups and land guards and the incidence of instant justice were indications that Ghanaians had lost faith in the Police Service.
Nana Lithur said one of the reasons for the mess in the Police Service was that the police had failed to be accountable to themselves and the law.
She said there was the need for an anti-corruption strategy in the police, saying that the impunity of police corruption was too much.
Nana Lithur said the measures adopted so far in dealing with the problem of police corruption were not effective, saying, “Merely dismissing a cop for corrupt practices is not enough. If it were, there would have been a reduction in those practices. But they are increasing. Corruption in the Police Service is becoming worse,” she said.
She said there should be an independent standing commission vested with the power to investigate complaints against police professional misconduct.
Nana Lithur said the Criminal Investigations Department should be able to come up with a paper indicating the level of police corruption, the types and how they were being dealt with.
“Police reforms are the way out. We need a complete overhaul of the Ghana Police Service. We need to take a second look at the entire structure of the service,” she said.
She said the restructuring should consider the training, salaries, accommodation and logistical needs of the police, as well as review the process of appointing and dismissing the Inspector-General of Police, saying that “there should be security of tenure for the IGP”.
She said there should also be a relationship between the various metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies and the police.
Nana Lithur said the state was not providing enough resources for the police and that the situation needed to change so that “the police can evolve with the times”.
She said there were problems with police ethics and enforcement of laws but unfortunately one did not see the police dealing or adopting a policy to address those recurring problems.
The President set up a three-member committee at the weekend to review the report that the Kojo Armah Committee that investigated the missing cocaine at the Exhibits Room of the CID Headquarters came up with.
The committee, which is chaired by Mr Kwesi Zwennes, is also expected to review the reaction of the Internal Committee established by the Ghana Police Service and such other related matters the committee may find relevant and necessary.
The committee is expected to complete its work and submit its report to the President within two weeks.