President Nana Akufo-Addo delivering his speech during the gathering
President Nana Akufo-Addo’s honouring of the Police Administration’s invitation to grace their annual social event, fondly called WASSA, was as equally important as his admonition to the law enforcement agency.
He touched arguably the most important shortcoming of the Ghana Police Service, an infected sore which has contradicted its rather iconic motto “Service With Integrity” and painfully reduced it to a laughing stock in many instances during the previous political administration.
The Ghana Police Service has over the years showed obscene readiness to do the bidding of the ruling government, regardless of ethical breaches associated with the tendency.
This has gone on for so long that it has become a norm and many thinking rather erroneously that there is nothing untoward when a policeman let go a defaulter simply because he belongs to a ruling party- hogwash beyond comprehension.
A law enforcement agency, which can describe an offence as political and turns its back on the case, cannot be seen to be discharging its duties with integrity.
A Police Service, which would delay rather dangerously an intervention when the residence of an opposition leader is being attacked by thugs of a ruling party and claiming curiously to be awaiting reinforcement cannot claim to be neutral on the political space.
A Police Service, which rushes to court with fabricated excuses to seek injunction on a demonstration because that inures to the interest of the government, does not have integrity.
A Police Service which does not see anything wrong with damaging the eye of a peaceful demonstrator is dancing to the tune of the government and cannot be said to have integrity.
President Akufo-Addo could not have been more brusque when he told the Ghana Police Service not to become appendages to the government, which they have of course been over the years, with worrying effects on its image.
Indeed what he told them subtly was that they have over the years lost their professionalism and become tools to be used by the ruling governments – the previous one being the most apt case in point. There could not have been a better query from a President who has seen everything about the negativities of the law enforcement system. It is a suggestion that they better sit up if they want to be taken seriously as an institution of professionals who deserve deference from their compatriots. For now, this respect has fled through the window.
President Akufo-Addo and his team have an onerous task of restoring the lost deference and professionalism in the Police so that crime would cease being seen in political colours but treated as a criminality.
The cop under such circumstances should not entertain any apprehension of being transferred to the countryside as a punishment for being too professional.
There is no gainsaying it that over the years anytime there is going to be an election, Ghanaians get worried about the partisan stance of the Ghana Police Service.
He might have retired and resting at home now but we cannot avoid mentioning the rather bad leadership style of the former Inspector General of Police, John Kudalor, who was ready to do anything to prop the previous government and not the ideals of the Police.
The law enforcement agents were selective in the enforcement of the law and so glaring was it that it appeared they were taking instructions from the Flagstaff House rather than from the Police Headquarters.
Persons perceived not to belong to the ruling party or had names sounding differently from the Police Chief’s did not have anything doing in Accra and were quickly transferred to the remotest parts of the country.
There is nothing wrong with serving the country in any part of Ghana but where the motive was simply in actualization of the aforementioned reason, there is something seriously wrong.
We recall numerous instances of lawlessness under the previous political administration and how these did not even come anywhere near the courts.
They were killed because politicians at the helm did not want them going beyond the pages of the media or on the airwaves.