Mr. Justice Abdulai, a private legal practitioner has indicated that, for the security service especially the Police Service to have a fair recruitment, their top officials should be removed from the executive bodies [government].
Speaking on the new clearance given by government for the security service to employ more personnel, he said that if these officials are not under any influence, the recruitment exercise will not be partial and partisan.
“I think that elimination of the Executive from that angle is the biggest legacy we can leave Ghana Police. This is to completely remove them from direct influence, that way their independence in the discharge of their duties will be unmatched.
“The best way of removing the political influence is to start from the top [IGP, Police Commisioner]. So long as the political influence affects the top,;the top does the recruitment and so long as you have the top being influenced by partisan interest,; the down is completely rotten. If the IGP has free hands to operate, he will employ the right persons.”
Justice Abdulai
President shouldn’t be involved in IGP appointment
Justice Abdulai also suggested that the President should not have a direct interest in who becomes the Commissioner of Police and who also becomes the Inspector General of Police (IGP).
“I have called for the amendment of our constitution; in that, the Presidency does not have a direct interest in who becomes a commissioner of the Police Service;and to that extent who becomes the IGP.”
Justice Abdulai
He also called for some of the Police personnel in the courts to be moved to join their colleagues to help enable them carry out their mandate of protecting the public.
“The prosecutorial powers given to the Police are not their primary functions. They should be removed completely from that and; rather we can employ law degree holders to do this job and do it better.”
Justice Abdulai
He averred that if the 11,000 persons were being put in the Police force,; the nation would have inched closer to having a decent number of Police personnel capable of protecting the people and also having a large number of people to deploy during the election period.
Touching on his reaction when the announcement came about,;he indicated that he was excited and urged the public to stop questioning how the recruits will be paid.
“When I read this,;I was so excited particularly about the police and the numbers they will be recruiting. We should not be questioning where to find money to employ 30,000 youth into the Police Service.”
Justice Abdulai
Ghana will have enough Police personnel
Lawyer Abdulai further indicated that if government continues to employ yearly,;by the end of the 4-year administration of the Akufo-Addo government, there will be enough persons in the service.
“It is such wonderful idea,;that is,;it completely reduces if it does not eliminate the possibility of crime at least within the open spaces. And this is what I am looking out for that,;by the time this four year of the current President is over,;we will be getting to that kind of stage in our life.”
Justice Abdulai
He then urged for the personnel who will be recruited to be capable to carry out their mandates and also be non-partisan in their line of work.
“However, in the discharge of their duties, we expect that professionalism becomes the interest and not the watch dog.”
Justice Abdulai
