COP Timbilla "dishonourably discharged" from police service

The Special Task Force set up by the Ghana Police Service to investigate the alleged involvement of Commissioner of Police (COP), Mr Patrick Timbilla in the police recruitment scandal in 2015 has recommended that he should be removed from the service.

Contrary to earlier media reports that Mr Timbilla, a former Director-General in charge of the Human Resource Department of the Ghana Police Service, had been dismissed, a source close to the task force told the Daily Graphic in Accra yesterday that the task force rather recommended that he should be “dishonourably discharged.”

This means that COP Timbilla, said to have attained the age of 60 last year, would go home with all his benefits as a pensioner, but will carry the tag of being removed dishonourably from the Ghana Police Service.

Recruitment scandal

In February 2015,  a recruitment scandal hit the Ghana Police Service when scores of young people thronged a number of police training schools across the country to begin training.

Seven persons, including two police officers, were initially arrested in connection with the fraud.

The investigation by the police led to the uncovering of what they said was evidence implicating Mr Timbilla for which he was subsequently interdicted.

He was placed under house arrest and later interdicted two years ago for his alleged role in the scam. The special task force, which was set up to investigate the matter, was said to have seen text messages and other correspondence between him and the victims as evidence.

Mr Timbilla is also alleged to have received ¢11,400 through his Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) account believed to be proceeds of the recruitment scam.

 He was also charged with receiving ¢10,000 from one Aisha which the committee believed were proceeds from the recruitment scam.

Mr Timbilla’s fourth charge was that he allegedly received an amount of ¢80,000 from Alifa Adams in the company of Wuni Salinko, both suspects in the recruitment scam at his Ridge residence.

He is also said to have met 14 victims and agents of the enlistment fraud at the forecourt of the police officers mess and assured them that they would be enlisted at the appropriate time.

Further investigations later established that GH¢2.7 million was paid by 1,100 people as bribes.

The victims are said to have paid between GH¢2,000 and GH¢7,000 for them to be recruited into the service, but the admission letters they received turned out to be fake.

 Mr Timbilla’s signature, which was found on the fake admission letters, was sent to the Police Forensic Laboratory for examination.