FOR seven good years, he managed to infiltrate the security apparatus of the nation, performing various police duties – directing traffic as an official of the Motor Transport and Traffic Unit (MTTU), arresting and imposing fines on traffic offenders, performing security duties at official state functions without the slightest hint that he was a mere pretender.
With his name and a service number – 48125 – proudly adorning his chest, the 34-year-old confidently went about his policing duties without fear or favour.
But last Friday, the cup of ‘Corporal’, who also doubles as ‘Inspector’ Daniel Boateng – depending on what function he was performing – finally got full.
The Mile 7 Police grabbed him at Ofankor right on the beat, following a tip-off from a young man who vouched that Boateng had never had any form of police training.
Preliminary police investigations prove that Daniel was a former Community Protection Assistant (CPA) under the Youth Employment Programme under former President John Agyekum Kufuor’s administration, who was later laid off.
According to him, he served as a CPA personnel from 2007 to 2010, after which he started posing as a police officer.
Aside being ousted by the informant, who knew him, another police officer with a higher rank came forward to detail that he encountered Daniel at an accident scene around Ofankor, but Daniel’s behaviour was absurd.
According to the officer, who works under the MTTU arm of the Ghana Police Service, when he met Daniel at an accident scene, he seemed oblivious to the tenets of the Ghana Police Service in relation to respect for rank and how accident cases are handled.
The said acquaintance told police that Daniel had been arrested for masquerading as a police officer at Akim Oda in the past.
When Daniel was quizzed on where he got the police uniforms, service number and other logistics from for his sham, he told police that he collected it from a former housemate who is a police officer.
“When my former housemate is going to throw away his old police uniforms, I ask him to give them to me,” he said.
He also admitted to extorting money from drivers who break road traffic regulations; however, he stated, sometimes road users give him money without asking.
Police found on him three drivers’ licenses and a number plate. A uniform belonging to the Motor Transport and Traffic Unit (MTTU) of the Ghana Police Service was also found on him.
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