Interior Minister meets Police Chiefs

Page 49: June 26, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
THE Interior Minister, Dr Kwame Addo-Kufuor, has charged the police hierarchy to provide answers to police complicity in criminal activities and why the personnel have stopped displaying name tags and service numbers on their uniforms.
Addressing the top hierarchy of the service and regional commanders at a meeting at the Police Headquarters yesterday, Dr Addo-Kufuor said he expected the police to provide him with answers to questions such as whether it was true that some police personnel were directly involved in robbery or provided arms and ammunition to robbers for pecuniary gain, whether police vehicles and personnel were used in support of criminal activities, as well as whether narcotic drugs were carted in police vehicles to avoid detection.
Dr Addo-Kufuor, who was accompanied by his deputy, Mr K. T. Hammond ,and the Minister of State at the ministry, Nana Obiri Boahen, stated that to say the service was currently facing many serious challenges would be a great understatement.
The meeting was to discuss the rampant armed robbery and alleged police involvement, as well as the issue of perceived connivance of the police in the narcotic trade.
Dr Addo-Kufuor said many Ghanaians had lost confidence in the ability of the police to protect the citizenry while there were those who believed that the police were in league with criminals and drug barons.
“Whether these negative perceptions are incorrect or exaggerated, there is no doubt that things are not what they should be in the Ghana Police Service,” he observed.
Dr Addo-Kufuor, however, said there were still many excellent officers in the service who were prepared to lay down their lives in the service of the nation as occurred in Madina on Monday.
The minister said the problems confronting the service were responsible for the low morale in the service leading to ineffective and inefficient service delivery.
Dr Addo-Kufuor said nothing would help the image of the service more than all of them resolving to expose the bad lots in the service and ensuring that they faced the law.
He said the Zwennes Committee report was eagerly being awaited, the recommendations of which would be implemented to ensure the service regained some of its prestige and trust it had lost in recent times.
The Commissioner of Police in charge of Services, Mr Yaw Adu-Gyimah, said the Police Administration had contracted an agency to print the name tags and service numbers of the personnel.
He explained that hitherto the personnel were required to provide the name tags and the numerals themselves.
He said anyone who was found without his or her name tag would be put on service inquiry.