It is emerging that the Ghana Police Service is raking in millions and millions of Ghana cedis operating a side business selling private security services to some companies, notably banks.
The money involved could run into the tens of millions of Ghana cedis, and ‘retired’ Inspector General of Police Mohammed Alhassan, who is refusing to go on retirement, has some very serious explanations to do.
Who is taking the millions and millions of Ghana cedis banks are paying to the Ghana Police Service? The matter came up after it emerged that the Akim Oda Rural Bank paid an amount of GH¢74, 885.00 to the Ghana Police Service as fees for security services. That is just one bank among the hundreds that operate in Ghana.
An Akim oda-based private legal practitioner, Lawyer Augustus Ennin Attafuah has expressed dissatisfaction over the exorbitant charges the police administration is charging financial institutions in the country before rendering the core mandate of the service to them.
According the lawyer, it is illegal for the Police Service which is paid by the tax payer to render service, to charge extra amount for renderings service to the citizenry. Lawyer Attafauh who is a shareholder of the South Birim Rural bank was speaking during the thirtieth Annual General Meeting of the bank.
He expressed surprise about the amount involved and how it is crippling the growth of bank in the country. When asked by the press as to whether he would want to take up the challenge and meet the police administration in court, lawyer Attafuah said he will not do that as an individual but will be willing to assist the Association of Rural Bank (ARB) if they choose to take up the matter.
The South Birim Rural bank’s money paid to the Police Service of Ghana increased from GH¢13,580.00 in 2013 to GH¢74,885.00 in 2014, a situation the board chairman of the bank Hon. Robert Amoah describes as difficult.”
According the chairman, the police charges and generator running costs alone cost the bank a whooping GH¢130,777.00. “The bank could have used this amount to expand its operations in giving loans and even employing many of our young men and women,” he added.
On the issue of non-payment of loans, the bank has vowed to use all legal means to matter how harsh they may seem to retrieve all its monies from loan defaulters. The South Birim Rural bank grew by 17% in 2014 over 2013 with it total asset growing from GH¢15,292, 657.00 in 2013 to GH¢17,891,444.00 in 2014
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