Retirement of Police Officers not Political

The recent directive from the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) to Police officers on contract and those who have reached the compulsory retiring age of 60 to proceed on leave is not based on political motives, a statement issued on Friday said.

The statement signed by Mr. Richard Baduweh, Director of the Police Public Relations, said the 15 affected officers were born between 1935 and 1940. They had retired but had been given contract appointments.

The police refuted rumours that those asked to proceed on leave are NDC activists saying: "we wish to state that under the 1992 constitution, all public officers shall retire on attaining the age of 60 years."

The statement said some of the affected police officers had retired as far back as 1990 and none of them is an indispensable specialist.

It said in view of the need to encourage young Police officers to rise to the top and take up challenging responsibilities, it is not prudent that the service should encourage retired officers to stay on.