Ghana Police Service and GIZ hold planning workshop mapping out support to the Police

The “Programme to Build and Strengthen the Police Structures in Selected Partner Countries in Africa” (Police Programme), implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Foreign Office, together with the Ghana Police Service (GPS), today, kicked-off a two-day planning workshop in Aburi.

The planning workshop brings together members of the programme’s steering committee and technical working groups to assess progress achieved during the first year of implementation and jointly plan for the year ahead.

The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr. James Oppong Boanuh, who officially opened the event noted that the high-level participation at the workshop, and the experienced close collaboration between GPS and GIZ demonstrates the seriousness of the police to not only plan but also implement the Police Programme together.

The IGP further highlighted “we held a national Police Commanders conference last week at the Royal Senchi Hotel and Resort under the theme `the role of leadership in preventing violent crimes and promoting community safety’. This theme underpins the role leadership plays in our quest to prevent violent crimes and make the communities safe.

It also demonstrates our determination to make the communities safe to promote economic development and improved livelihood. By developing and grooming leaders through improved training system, ensuring Police accountability and fostering partnerships with the community Policing strategy, we will reach a desired end state.

The programme objective appropriately aligns with the theme for the conference and I have no doubt that at the end of your deliberations, concrete deliverables will be produced for the mutual benefit of both GIZ and the Ghana Police Service”.

The German Ambassador to Ghana, Mr. Christoph Retzlaff, who also graced the opening ceremony, emphasised Germany’s firm conviction that there can be no development without security. He described the Police Programme as Germany’s newest building block of its support to peace and security in Ghana.

Beside the Police Programme, Ambassador Retzlaff indicated that the German government also funds support for the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) and appointed an advisory group from the German Federal Armed Forces to cooperate with Ghana’s military in enhancing security in the region and country.

Both the IGP and the Ambassador agreed that the cooperation was contributing to the steady building of an enhanced Ghana Police Service composed of professionally trained officers, that proactively tackles police misconduct and prevents crime, through building a strong relationship with citizens.

Amongst other things, the GIZ implemented Police Programme supports international police training standards by developing an implementation strategy with the GPS for the already conducted training and curriculum review, designing a GPS training for promoted Inspectors, and equipping two IT-classrooms; Strengthening police accountability through trainings for police officers at the Police Professional Standard Bureau (PPSB), supporting the enhancement of related police PR measures, and the digitalisation of the complaints management for police misconduct.

The programme also fosters the GPS’ strategic approach on Community Policing and its implementation, including the enabling of officers on the ground by providing public address systems, projectors, screens and laptops for community policing measures.