IGP inaugurates police, private sector, fund raising board

The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr David Asante-Apeatu, has inaugurated a board to raise funds to support the service in its quest to be a first class police service.

Dubbed ‘Police-Private Sector Advisory Board’, the four member committee is chaired by Ms Joyce Aryee, the Executive Director of Salt and Light Ministries, with Mr Ernest Bediako Sampong, the CEO of Ernest Chemists Limited, Mr Ewuah Darko, the Vanguard Assurance, and Mr Samuel Amo Tobbin, the CEO of Tobinco Pharmaceuticals, as the other members.

Private sector

Inaugurating the board, the IGP said the board would be expanded to enable more private sector operators to join in the near future.

The IGP indicated that the government alone could not provide all the logistics needed by the police to enable them to execute their constitutional duty to the best of their ability.

“There was, therefore, the need to solicit for funding from corporate institutions and well-meaning Ghanaians to assist the police with the needed funds,” he said.

He said members of the board were carefully selected to be advocates for the service and offer the necessary advice and guidelines to the police as and when it deemed fit.

Mr Asante-Apeatu said as respectable members of the private sector, it was the expectation of the police that their involvement in the activities of the police would help them to achieve set goals.

Improve image

He said in recent years, the private sector had been identified as a key engine of economic development in Africa as well as in other parts of the developing world and, therefore, there was the need to partner them in the transformation agenda.

The IGP charged them to help improve the image of the police, which had been dented recently by the actions and inaction of some police officers.

He advised the police personnel to be guided by the highest form of ethics and professionalism in the performance of their duties.

According to the IGP, it was regrettable that in recent times certain conducts of some police officers had called the professional standards bureau and the training curricula of the police into question.

‘’The police administration will support officers whose hard work enhances the image of the service and will not hesitate to sanction those whose actions and inaction tarnish the image of the service,’’ he added.

Ambitious overhaul

Mr Asante-Apeatu said under his stewardship, the service had embarked on an ambitious transformation process to make the service one of the best in Africa.

According to the IGP, this transformation aims at making the Ghana Police Service capable of rendering world-class service, "up to the standard of international best practice".

‘’In doing this, our goal is to position the Ghana Police Service in the world and as a leading one in Africa by 2020," he said.

He said to be a world-class police service, there was the need for constant training of service personnel to enable them to be abreast of international best practices.

The IGP said the policemen on the grounds were the face of the police service and, therefore, there was the need for them to exhibit a high sense of professionalism in the discharge of their duties.

He said the police needed the support of the community to succeed so there was the need to build the confidence of the public by executing their duties effectively and efficiently.

Transformation agenda

The Ghana Police Service began a holistic transformation programme aimed at structural reformation of every stratum of the Service and this transformation agenda is pivoted on the 13 strategic objectives set by the Government of Ghana for the Ghana Police Service.

The Service is striving to actualise its vision of becoming “a world-class Police Service capable of delivering planned, democratic, protective, and peaceful services to the standards of international best practices.