Dr. George Akuffo Dampare
We cannot commence this commentary without quoting the remarks of the IGP/Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, his recent thoughts which triggered the choice of the subject anyway.
The quote is so poignant that many shared it on social media. Indeed, the gentleman is so touched by the deflated public confidence in the law enforcement institution to which he belongs that, he was constrained to pour out his heart the way he did.
“We are pleading with you, let go off our past and let us be. We understand we lost your trust, we lost your confidence and your respect, but we are going to bring them back. So please, don’t continue to judge us by our past and by extension even insult us because this is the police we have as a nation.
“So bear with us and encourage us because if you have a child, and you don’t speak good about the child, the child will not turn out to be good. So irrespective of how painful our past historical issues have been, if you want to be biblical, then I’ll say we have been born again.”
Those are remarks which should get us reflecting upon the Ghanaian situation vis-a-vis policing with a view to increasing our pace towards the goal of the IGP i.e. getting a world class police service for the country.
The Police Chief, a man who started policing from the lowest notch of the ladder, knows what he is talking about. Having said so much in those few words demands that all of us, Ghanaians, who have the nation at heart, must render unqualified support to the law enforcement institution in varied forms so its personnel can live up to the expectation of all. Let us avoid the insults and unsubstantiated remarks which can only dampen the morale of the personnel.
The journey towards attaining a world class police system in the country is a responsibility which should be shared by all not only the law enforcement personnel but the public too.
The subject is so deeply ingrained in the heart of the Police Chief that it constituted the crux of his delivery when he addressed freshly inducted pharmacists and the Pharmacy Council last week in Accra.
The Ghana Police Service is part of the Ghanaian society, a microcosm of the people of this country. It stands to reason therefore that the institution shares the challenges bedeviling other institutions.
Let us all contribute towards ridding the service of the blemishes associated with it over the years. The incessant condemnation and bad-mouthing would not help; constructive criticisms steeped in sincerity can.
Since we cannot live in a police-less society, let us make what we have good and productive.