'Aban': The story of the DSP through whom the nickname for policemen came about

Paul Kwasi Sarpong is a name almost nobody can easily relate with, but if you are a Ghanaian, you must definitely know what the term ‘aban’ means. Yet, these two are so related so much that history has not done a good job merging them.

This is the story of a former Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) and how his ‘unconventional’ policing style engraved that name – aban – in the fabric of Ghanaian jargons.

Giving a narration of the story behind this once illustrious policeman on his TikTok, historian and veteran broadcaster, Charles Amankwa-Ampofo told the story of how Paul Kwasi Sarpong made it a duty to reject bribes from drivers who were arrested for road offences.

Speaking in Twi, he explained that story.

“He was a Deputy Superintendent of Police. And he was someone who was disciplined and strict and if he arrested you as a driver, if you decided to go behind the vehicle to bring your license with some money stashed in it, he would tell you that as for him, he did not need money, but it was ‘aban’ or the state that needed the money so go and give it to the state.

“He used to say that he had arrested people because they had flouted the law and he did not need their money and so he would take them to court,” he narrated.

The historian continued to explain that because of that, “whenever drivers were on the road and saw him, they would quickly divert and if they saw other colleague drivers, they would inform them that ‘aban was ahead.’”

To support what he was saying, Amankwa-Ampofo had in his hand a compilation of old newspapers in which he had flipped to a page that had a story with the headline, ‘Aban’ dies.

The Daily Graphic publication of Thursday, December 28, 1972, read;

“Mr Paul Kwasi Sarpong, Deputy Superintendent of Police, popularly known among motorists as ‘Aban,’ died at the Military Hospital yesterday morning at the age of 50.

“Police sources indicated that Mr. Sarpong died of pneumonia after being in hospital for a short time.”

TWI NEWS

See the rest of the newspaper clipping, as well as the TikTok video from Amankwa-Ampofo below:

@ghanas.archives #ghanahistory #fyppppppppppppppppppppppp #fypシ #ghanatiktok🇬🇭 #ghtrends #viralvideo #viraltiktok #viral ♬ original sound - Amankwa-Ampofo's archives

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