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The desire of every police officer is to get promoted after serving a specific number of years in the service but this is gradually becoming a wishful thinking for most of the police officers who are due for promotion. Though the affected officers are blaming the leadership of the Police Service for their predicament and that they may go on retirement without getting to the desired rank; the Mohammed Alhassan�s administration also thinks otherwise. Available information indicates that personnel of the Service who are due for promotion after staying in their current rank for more than four years have not been promoted. Some of the officers who spoke to The Chronicle on condition of anonymity said some of them had already gone to the Ghana Police Command and Staff College, which is one of the prerequisites for promotion, but nothing had been heard from the administration as to when they are going to be promoted. Meanwhile, some of the officers who went on the same course with them had been promoted. They regretted over what they see as selective promotion currently ongoing and appealed to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to do the right thing. The Director General of the Public Affairs Department of the Ghana Police Service, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Ampah Bennin, however, told The Chronicle in an interview at the Police headquarters that it would be wrong for any officer to accuse the IGP of doing selective promotion. Though he admitted that promotions for some of the personnel are due, the IGP cannot be blamed for the delay. According to him, the IGP would have loved to promote all personnel if he had the power, but the bottom line is that there are no vacancies for these officers. An independent investigation conducted by The Chronicle revealed that the Police Administration has been structured in a pyramid form, with the IGP perched at the apex and other ranks descending to the base. The junior ranks [working force] who form the majority are found at the base, with proportionally fewer supervisors for the sake of efficiency. The Chronicle also established that per Constitutional Instrument (CI) 76, the Police Administration has IGP sitting at the top, two deputy IGPs, 10 commissioners, 20 Deputy Commissioners (DCOP), about 60 Assistant Commissioners (ACP), Chief Superintendents, Superintendents and Deputy Superintendents (DSP) down to the constable at the base of the pyramid. Since the Police Administration is being regulated by the CI 76, neither the IGP nor the Police Council have the power to promote personnel to ranks beyond the number that has been stipulated by law. The promotion can only be effected if there is a vacancy in the rank the officer should be promoted to. The Chronicle gathered that some of the senior officers in the rank of DCOPs are due for promotion to Commissioners but because there are no vacancies at the rank of Commissioners, they are still on the rank of DCOP. The same applies to those who are due for promotion from the rank of ACP to DCOPs. The Chronicle also established that currently over 60 Chief Superintendents are due for promotion to the rank of ACP but the administration has vacancies for only 8 officers. Any attempt to promote all these qualified officers would breach the number specified by the CI 76. It would also mean that more supervisors would be packed at the top instead of a few. The development, The Chronicle gathered, has tied the hands of both the IGP and the Police Council to embark upon mass promotions. The Promotion of a Senior Officer is done by the Police Council upon the recommendation of the Appointment and Promotions Advisory Board, while promotion of officers of the rank of Chief Inspectors or below is by the IGP on the recommendation of the Appointment and Promotion Advisory Board. Despite these difficulties some of the affected officers insist promotions were still going on even though they have all gone to the Ghana Police Command and Staff College. DCOP Ampah Bennin in response noted that the Ghana Police Command and Staff College is not a pre-requisite for promotion in the Senior Officer rank as is being alleged and that it is not captured in the C.I 76 as such. According to him, the Staff College is a Centre for learning instituted to improve upon the professional performance of Senior Officers and reiterated that promotions are based on vacancies and nothing else. The DCOP further noted that even if there were enough vacancies, the IGP and the Police Council would follow the strict rules governing promotions. According to him recommendations for promotion are made by the Assessment Committees at the National and Regional levels for the consideration of the Police Appointment and Promotions Advisory Board, and the Police Council. Promotions in the Service, he continued, shall be by the following means: Promotion examination Seniority and length of years served, subject to satisfactory performance assessment of good conduct; or Special recommendation based on meritorious acts of bravery or valour in the prevention of crime or outstanding performance of duty. A Senior Officer, under whom an officer is working, may also recommend him/her for promotion to the Appointment and Promotions Advisory Board for Consideration. In this regard, the recommending officer may take the following into consideration: Integrity and good conduct Efficiency , attitude towards work and sense of responsibility Experience and capacity for co-operation with other officers Initiative and creativity Ability to offer leadership Seniority Whether the officer has served the required number of years in the relevant post. Based on this, DCOP Benin said promotion rules cannot be bent to favour any officer as is being speculated. The Director General of the Public Affairs Department of the Police Service regretted that they have explained this time and time again to all personnel of the Service but the allegation of favoritism keeps coming up. He insisted that there are no elements of corruption, irregularities or favouritism in promotions.