The Inspector-General of Police, James Oppong-Boanuh, has warned that the service will deal ruthlessly with personnel who engage in acts of corruption.
Speaking at a National Anti-Corruption Action Plan Sensitization Program for Senior Police Officers, the IGP said internal regulatory mechanisms have been put in place to reduce corruption within the service.
“May I mention here that for the first time in the history of the Ghana Police Service, the central disciplinary board of the service has had no backlogs unlike the days where an officer could get involved in a situation and is either interdicted or is on suspension or his case is tendered and the file can be here for five to six years.”
“There is an adage that a fish starts rotting from the head and therefore it is appropriate to get our senior officers involved in the fight against corruption since we are the head and we have no choice but to work very hard to address the perception of corruption if we are to remain relevant as a law enforcement institution in the country. And I can assure you that the police institution is resolved to see this through”.
A December Afrobarometer report released by the Center for Democratic Development shows that among key public officials in Ghana, the police, judges and magistrates, Members of Parliament, civil servants, and tax officials were most widely perceived as corrupt.
The Ghana Police Service has often topped most corruption perception rankings in the country, with many Ghanaians often expressing their belief that police officers are corrupt.
The Afrobarometer report showed that the Ghana Police Service was the most corrupt institution in the country, topping the chart with 57%.
