Police get big welfare package

In its quest to boost the morale of personnel of the Ghana Police Service, the Police Administration has announced a comprehensive welfare package as part of the transformational agenda of the service.

Under the package, every police officer will have an insurance cover to the value GH¢50,000 in the event of death while he/she is in the line of duty.

The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr David Asante-Apeatu, who announced this in Accra last Friday, said even if an officer died accidently or by natural death while in active service, his/her family would be entitled to a GH¢25,000 package, while an officer who would suffer a permanent disability in the discharge of his duty would also be entitled to GH¢25,000.

Restructuring training

He announced this in a speech at the closing ceremony of a restructuring training programme for 665 personnel of the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service in Accra.

Mr Asante-Apeatu said the packages were in line with efforts by the Police Administration to boost the morale of its personnel.

Giving details of the package, he said under the welfare package, “should any officer die in the line of duty, three of his children will be catered for from nursery to the tertiary level of education”.

“All of us have suffered from delays in the reimbursement of medical expenses. The truth is that the financial position of the service vis-a-vis the quantum of pending medical refunds is a worrisome situation and this insurance package has provided GH¢12,500 for critical ailment,” he said.

The IGP said less than four per cent of the total police strength were senior officers and the mass of over 96 per cent were other ranks, adding that it was his desire to get the critical mass motivated.

Transformation agenda

He said the importance of the training programme to the current police transformation agenda could not be over-emphasised, as it was an accepted fact that the professional skills and competences of most of the personnel had depreciated considerably and that had impacted negatively on the performance of mandated tasks of the service.

“The Police Administration, in its determination to reverse this downward trend, has found it very necessary to embark on a series of re-training courses, with more attention being focused on MTTD personnel,” he said.

Mr Asante-Apeatu indicated that the aim of the training programme was to adequately equip the over 600 MTTD personnel with skills and competences that would enable them to delight the motoring public, firmly enforce traffic rules and regulations, demonstrate professionalism and, above all, reduce corrupt practices on the roads and highways.

Public perception

He said more attention had been given to the MTTD because of the cumulative negative public perception of the department that had a rippling effect on the whole police organisation in the country.

He said the Police Administration had embarked on a series of programmes for the restructuring of the MTTD to meet international standards.

Indiscipline

Mr Asante-Apeatu said there was the growing tendency for most police personnel to behave as if they lived on islands of their own, as many behaved rudely, amplifying a lack of civility to the public.

According to him, the time to do away with indiscipline and anti-social attitudes which lowered the esteem of the service had come.

He said the unacceptable situation where police officers on duty, out of sheer arrogance, allowed complainants, informants and suspects to parade the corridors of police stations and wait for hours on end without being attended to could no longer be tolerated.

Unethical acts

For his part, the Director General of the MTTD, Commissioner of Police (COP) Mr Maxwell Atingane, cautioned the personnel not to see the MTTD as an avenue for getting quick money by indulging in unethical acts that would drag the name of the Police Service into disrepute.

He said traffic police were the eye of the Police Service, for which reason there was the need for them to be more professional and democratic in the course of performing legitimate functions to meet the demands of the public.

Mr Atingane warned that the MTTD would take seriously of any unprofessional act and severe disciplinary action meted out to defaulters.