The dictionary meaning of POLICE is "an organization for maintaining law and order". The Police Service is the pride and envy of many countries but in Ghana it's the antithesis.Corruption and stealing from the government and people that they have pledged to serve and protect or provide service and safety are rampant.I really don't know the criteria in Ghana for the enlistment of police personnel.Since Ghana doesn't have a national data base where information on people could be checked, I assume any moron, drug dealer and crook qualifies to become a police officer as far as that person knows somebody at the top.The trust the people of Ghana reposed in them is on the wane if not gone.If you don't want the thief to steal your things you entrust those things in his/her care and they would always be there.The angels Ghana left their things in their care have now turned round and stolen from them. Betrayal of trust.
What part of " be careful what you wish for don't the drug dealers and corrupt people understand"? You can take the short cut to wealth but nemesis would one day catch up with you.If the zero tolerance the government is harping on is going to have any effect then as I have said always the house cleaning must start from the police service as the fish always rots from the head.This bribery and corruption thing has been going on for along time while every government averts its gaze. If the Assistant boss of the CID and some top officers are suspected or implicated in a drug deal, then the country has really turned a corner.Who knows how many of the juniour officers are already in the business trying to be loyal to their superious and save their jobs.This is the right time for the President to show or prove that Colombia is not the pseudo name for Ghana.He should be resolute in his decision and show no mercy.All the bad ones should be uprooted like cassava. He should think of the ordinary Ghanaian who would always find it tough to secure a visa to travel because of this drug stigma on the country. After all when the president wants to travel, his visa is always signed, sealed and delivered in a convoy to the castle.All the loose ends in the Police service should be fastened for we have had enough of their crap for a long time.Ghana is one of the countries where the police bargain with offenders over how much to pay for their various offences as if the offence is a perishable commodity in the market.If this is rampant in a country then you know that country is placed on the endangered species list by the so called western countries.
From the north to the south, east to west of the country, not more than fifty drivers are taken to court daily for their various offences but there are hundreds if not thousands of road checks . Where does all these money go to?. Into the pockets of some unscrupulous officers. The police should always be held blamable and not some particular vehicles for all the accidents on Ghana's roads. The few good ones are now paying the price for what the bad nuts are doing. If the Interior Minister Kan-Dapaah could boldly say the police are not angels then he is trying to say they are not or less guilty in taking bribes. The police service is like taking a vow in marriage " for better for worse".
Whatever their circumstances they should stand firm after all they knew the type of job they were going to do before they filled out their applications. Mr, Dapaah also said the Ghana police service is one of the effective and efficient institutions in W/Africa.Could this be found in the Guiness book of records?.Effective means producing favourable impression on people. Efficient means performing tasks in an organised and capable way.On these two the police have scored zero.
Police are known by Ghanaians to be corrupt and incompetent.If things in their care cannot be accounted for it doesn't mean they are effective.A whole car going missing in the most secured of all places.
Unbelievable.For the Deputy director of CID, holding a meeting with drug dealers in a private house is a serious breach of the law. If any bigger amount of money had changed hands at that meeting the whole issue would have been swept under the carpet.Police meet drug dealers in two places,police station where charges are filed and at the court to prosecute them.In the same way a priest cannot be found with a prostitute in a bed room and then defend himself that he was praying for her.The boss should have known better.
Here are some few solutions for a better Police service.
1)Every Ghanaian should have a National ID (COMPULSORY)
2)The Police service should raise money for their day to day administration in buying fax machines, computers, stationerys', bicycles, patrol cars etc.The government is to pay them and buy their uniforms.The lazy and corrupt stations would be known at the end of the year by how much they have raised when they are being audited.
3)Every Police personnel should have a ticket book handy, ones that person dons the uniform so that tickets could be issued instantly to offenders.(reason for the national ID)
4)There should be a quota for those who go on the road to check drivers every month.It is then up to the Judge to know which cases are genuine and which are frivolous.
5)The origional of the ticket is given to the offender and the duplicate taken to the court on the court date so that the judge could compare if the two tally.The triplicate should be on the Police station file.
6)Every officer must go to the office in civilian clothes and change at the office to hide his/her identity a little bit.
7) They should always walk in pairs when on duty with their names and badges displayed to make it difficult for one person to make decisions and be a witness for the other.
8) The telephone number of a police station should be known to every person in the vicinity and easy to be remembered.(national number)
9) Police personnel should be well educated and have a command in English Language.The English speaking in courts or facing the Defence lawyers are the main reasons why some of them always take the short cut by issuing on the spot fines which is always half of the court fines and which goes into their pockets. Two things are always sure to happen when a person starts speaking polished English when arrested.Either the person goes scot free or the instant fine is reduced by a third.
The Police service is a noble profession and it should be a place to feel nice to work and not a place for cheats to be there and line their pockets with corrupt money.The question I pose here is " Selling drug or be corrupt to succeed and succeed and be accused of selling drug or corrupt"?
Which one do these people who engage in this trade think it's good?.I need an answer from the Georgina Woode committee who are doing the invetigations.
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