Two cedis per day for Police at Bawku

There is widespread agitation among Police personnel tasked with restoring peace at Bawku in the Upper East Region, over daily remuneration of GH¢2.00 per day.

The concerns of the Police personnel stems from the fact that, while they had put their lives on the dangerous block to salvage and quell the insurgency at Bawku, the state is poorly remunerating them.

THE SUN gathered that Police personnel who spoke on condition of anonymity said they were given a daily wage of GH¢2.00 (¢20,000 old Ghana Cedis) for all their risks. The personnel therefore described the amount as woefully inadequate, going by the extreme factors on the cards.

THE SUN gathered that initially, the Police personnel where given GH¢3 as daily allowance which was thought to be woefully inadequate, as a result of which personnel were praying so authorities upped it, only for one cedi to be slashed off it to bring the figure to 2 GH cedis.

“We all know that the state’s budget is already over-stretched but since we cannot compromise on security matters and throw peace out of the window, we need to be rewarded appropriately”, a top ranking Police man told THE SUN in chat.

According to the personnel, if prompt steps are not put in place to address the problem it would affect their operations.

“How can you give GH¢2.00 per head to responsible people like us who have left our wives, children and family behind to help maintain peace in the area,” an aggrieved officer asked THE SUN.

“I am not surprised that some disgruntled members attempt to sell their weapons for cash. The Police administration must sit because it seems they care less about the welfare of the personnel who have been sent to the war zone to maintain peace,” another personnel complained.

A number of policemen and soldiers were recently dispatched to Bawku following the ethnic conflict between the Kusasis and Mumprusis. As a result of the clash, several lives and property have been lost hence the use of a back-up Police enforcement team to maintain peace in the area.