By
Gifty Amofa/ Emmanuel Todd, GNA
Accra, Jan. 8, GNA –
Mr James Oppong-Boanuh, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), has said the
Police Service (GPS) would deploy supervisory officers to monitor various check
points as part of measures to fight corruption.
He said the
monitoring team would comprise both uniformed and plain-clothes police officers
to enhance effectiveness and make the officers easily approachable by the
public to lodge complaints.
“Highway patrol,
traffic barriers, and snap check points would be under the supervision of
senior police officers at assigned duty points,” he said.
The IGP said this in
an address at the opening session of a day’s workshop jointly organised by the
Police and the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ)
to sensitise senior police officers on the National Anti- Corruption Action
Plan (NACAP) in Accra.
He said a taskforce
has also been created to interview drivers, passengers and other road users to
gather intelligence of corrupt practices of officers on roads.
The IGP urged the
Senior Officers to make themselves accessible to receive such complaints from
victimized road users and the public.
He said to ensure
accountability, the Service has put out contact lines, social media platforms
links through which the public could share information on officers found in
compromising situations.
Mr Oppong-Boanuh
said the Service has strengthened its disciplinary measures to deal with any
officer found to have extorted monies from drivers or compromised his position
in anyway.
“The Central
Disciplinary Board of the service has been cleared of all back-log cases which
has not been the practice previously. This shows how ready and serious the
Board is to deal with such officers who fall short of its disciplinary
standards,” he said.
The IGP said the
involvement of senior officers across the country in the fight showed the
police readiness to ensure that the implementation of NACAP was successful.
He called for the
support of the public in the fight against corruption within the Service.
Commissioner of
Police (COP) Mr Nathan Kofi Boakye, Director General of Research, Planning and
Transformation of the Service, said the Police was working to ensure that its
ranking as the most corrupt institution in the country changes, adding that the
IGP since his assumption of office is working hard to ensure that corrupt
practices within the service was a thing of the past.
“After this we are
moving into implementation,” COP Boakye said, adding that the officers at the
end of the workshop would know what NACAP is, as well as its strategic
approaches.
Mr Richard Ackom
Quayson, Deputy Commissioner of CHRAJ, said the public expected much from the
Police Service in the fight against corruption.
He said the Service
should aim at building a force, which is focused on its vision, mission and
core values to strengthen its operations and law enforcement within and across
the nation.
Mr Quayson said it
is very unfortunate for the service to be tagged with corruption even though
many officers were working with integrity as highlighted in its core values.
The Deputy
Commissioner said it is important to fight to create a stronger and cleaner
image of the Police Service.
GNA
