A two-week training course at the Police Depot, Accra, for selected police personnel to prime them for close protection duties has been aborted following detection of security breaches in their selection.
The personnel, made up of 11 senior officers and inspectors including 193 other ranks, had just commenced the training programme when the breaches were detected. A meeting was held by relevant senior police officers following the development, the outcome of which was a decision to call off the training and for all the personnel to return to their units. A fresh selection would be done so unwanted persons would be weeded out.
It is standard practice for new governments to demand for security personnel whose loyalty they can count on to perform assortment of duties. When persons selected to provide special protection services to government officials complete the training as prescribed, they are then posted to various locations such as the presidency and others.
It is in pursuance of this goal that some persons were found to have been very close to the previous political order; some of them engaged in unprofessional conduct as law enforcement officers, including passing untoward remarks about presidential candidates.
A female police officer was found to have been distributing the posters of a political party a few months to the elections – a spectacle her colleagues saw and marveled at.
DAILY GUIDE, it would be recalled, published a story about a constable then at the Flagstaff House who was very political on Facebook campaigning for the then ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC). Even though the Police Public Relations Director assured the DAILY GUIDE that the IGP was going to summon him, nothing was heard about the issue.
Two of the cops were found to be blood relations of known political superior police officers not below the rank of Assistant Commissioners. They are known adherents of the former ruling party, allegiance which clouded their professionalism.
DAILY GUIDE has learned about how one of them was identified and asked about how he came to be selected, having been associated openly with the NDC. According to our source, having had his cover blown, he marched away smiling.
These days police personnel know the political affiliations of their colleagues and so it was not difficult to identify the moles as it were, in the numbers selected for the critical duties.
One of the Superior Officers, a certain ACP/Mr. Alphonse Mark Adu-Amankwah, who until his new posting to the VIPPU, Accra, was Commandant of the Police College – number one on the January 2017 posting signal – suffered some queries in 2008 and could miss out even when the names are thoroughly scrutinized.
A final report to the Minister of Interior by a panel which investigated the Prampram missing cocaine case, was uncharitable to him.
The panel was set up on 1st February 2008 and after interviewing 43 persons, including the then IGP, concluded that “the case officer, Mr. Adu Amankwah, did not diligently follow leads in apprehending named fishermen who aided in bringing the Ningo/Prampram cocaine haul from a ship named ‘River’ to the shore in Ningo and to Tema.”
It went on, “His handling of the case docket was not up to the standard known in the Ghana Police Service/CID.
“He failed to give professional guidance on the case or bring the real facts to the AG’s as expected. Little effort was made to investigate the case before the prime suspects were granted bail and subsequently absconded.”
<<Print>>