Parliament, Police Council blamed for police unprofessionalism

The Head of the Faculty of Academic Affairs and Research at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Center (KAIPTC), Dr. Emmanuel Kwesi Aning, has attributed what he describes at unprofessionalism on the part of police personnel to the failure of oversight bodies responsible for ensuring that the Ghana Police Service thrives.

Dr. Aning noted that the Parliamentary Select Committee on Defense and Interior, as well as the Police Council has failed to perform its responsibilities.

His comments are in relation to the overall performance of the Service but particularly on the incident which occurred in July 2018, at Manso-Nkwanta, where seven residents of Asawase were killed by the police.

The police administration had earlier indicated that the seven persons were armed robbers but this claim has been shot down following findings of a government-constituted Committee which investigated the matter.

Manso-Nkwanta police shooting: 7 persons killed were not robbers – Report

Speaking on TV3‘s Key Points programme on Saturday, November 24, Dr. Aning said the incident could have been prevented if the necessary oversight bodies responsible for the Ghana Police Service were doing their job.

“Not all officers or a particular rank must be given weapons. The rules are very clear, and it is only officers of the rank above Inspectors who should be given weapons and ammunitions, but Asawase also demonstrates multiple levels of oversight failure.

“When this happened, quite a number of oversight institutions which must oversee the Ghana Police Service were very quiet,” Dr. Aning observed.

He noted that the Police Council has “consistently” failed to do its work.

“This is not surprising, particularly if you look at the manner in which the people involved in this crime, and those who ought to have come out to tell us the truths are telling us lies.”

Dr. Aning further said Parliament is expected to receive an annual report on the performance of the Service, but this has not been happening, and there has been no effort to get it to submit its report annually as required.

According to him, the Police Service which has the duty of protecting lives and property has been reduced to shooting and murdering people in cold blood and a lot of senior officers only seek to cover up for these acts of unprofessionalism.

“We cannot, and we must not transform an institution that has institutional structural challenges that go to the core of its mandate, what are you transforming?

“Is it the ability to kill people in cold blood, is it the ability to falsify official documents, to hide documents or you are transforming the manner in which the way recruitments are done become more transparent,” he quizzed.

Dr. Aning said Ghana needs a police force which can be trusted, and is accountable to the citizenry.