President Nana Akufo-Addo introducing COP David Asante-Apeatu, Ag. IGP
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo yesterday appointed Commissioner of Police (COP) David Asante-Apeatu as the Inspector General of Police (IGP).
He is taking over from John Kudalor who had called on the president to bid him farewell following the expiration of his term of office.
He has reached the constitutionally mandated age of 60.
Mr Kudalor thanked the president, the government and people of Ghana for the opportunity given him to serve the nation as IGP, stressing that his successor would sustain the gains made during his administration.
Mr Kudalor deemed it an honour to have been given the opportunity to serve in his capacity as IGP.
“I’m still a Ghanaian, a very patriotic citizen and I will do everything possible to assist whoever takes over from me…we shall still continue to be policemen no matter whether we are out of the job because once a policeman, always a policeman and once a police chief you must be ready to ensure that my country is in one piece,” he noted.
He advised the incoming IGP “to ensure that he creates that enabling environment for the law-abiding citizens of this great country to go about their duties lawfully, dutifully without any fear of being harassed or molested; that congenial atmosphere must be created.”
On his part, President Akufo-Addo thanked Mr Kudalor for the work he has done for the several years that he served the nation.
New IGP
Not too long thereafter, the president chose COP Asante-Apeatu in an acting position as the IGP, pending the approval and confirmation of the yet-to-be-reconstituted Council of State.
The Constitution requires the president to appoint the IGP in consultation with the Council of State; it would therefore take the approval of a new Council of State to validate [complete] Apeatu’s appointment as substantive IGP.
“The office he occupies is one of the most sensitive offices in our entire national security system; the police you know are responsible primarily for our domestic peace and stability and security and it is not an office that can be vacant for any period of time; the Service and the nation need leadership of the police at all times,” President Akufo-Addo noted whiles introducing David Asante-Apeatu to Ghanaians at a press briefing.
The former Director General of the Police Criminal Investigations Department (CID) takes over at a time morale is very low in the Police Service owing to politicization and nepotism among the ranks and file occasioned by the previous political administration.
President Akufo-Addo charged the police leadership to be professional in its dealings.
Testimonial
He touted Mr Apeatu’s credentials as “a very senior police officer with a very varied history and experience in the Police Service of our country…within the Police Service he has experienced virtually the full-range of activities opened to him and ended up as our representative with the INTERPOL where he was the Director of Specialised Crime.”
Mr Asante-Apeatu has since been the Director General of Police in-charge of ICT and the Marine Police.
Nana Akufo-Addo said, “He has a very strong reputation as a good police officer, good public official, lived a very disciplined life within the Police Service and I’m confident that he can give the Police Service the leadership that is required, going forward in our country.”
President’s Assurance
He underscored, “My interest and the interest of my party and I believe that is the interest of the people of Ghana, is that we have a Police Service, indeed a security service, which is professional. By that I mean people whose allegiance is to the state and the people of Ghana, rather than to governments that come and go; that’s my understanding of what a professional security service is about. A service that owes its responsibility to the state of Ghana and therefore carries out its duties in enforcing the laws of our country because that is the task of the Police Service – to make sure that the laws of our country are upheld; we will do so in a dispassionate, impartial and professional manner.”
With that, the president said, “Anybody who falls foul of the law should expect the Police Service that is doing its duty, to act against it and such a service should be colour-blind as far as political, religious or other allegiances are concerned; that is the Police Service that I believe the Ghanaian people are looking for and it is the Police Service that in my time as President of the Republic I’m doing everything to work towards.
“I think that our people will feel secured that they have a Police Service that is honest and that will enforce the laws of the country so that the people of our country can go about their lawful duties in peace and security; they will not be subjected to unnecessary harassment; and they will be protected against wrongdoers. That’s the purpose and that’s the goal of any decent Police Service.”
From Charles Takyi-Boadu, Flagstaff House