State legitimacy and the police service

The state exercises various powers over citizens.

In nondemocratic states, with the authoritarian nature of power and citizens having no say in who their leaders are, it is unclear whether citizens accept the legitimacy of the state or are simply coerced to. 

In Ghana, however, we live in a democratic state and thanks to data from the Afrobarometer survey, the extent to which citizens accept state legitimacy can be gauged.

Given recent happenings regarding police response to the demonstrations held to demand action on the “galamsey” menace, this op-ed piece reflects on how Ghanaian citizens view the police and lessons that can be learned from the current situation.

State legitimacy

According to the Ghana Police Service, they are “mandated to maintain law and order as per the Constitution of Ghana (1992) and further guided by laws such as the Police Service Act, 1970 (Act 350) and the Police Service regulation 2012 (C.I 76).”

In describing what they do, the police say, “Our functions are to prevent and detect crime, to apprehend offenders and to maintain public order and safety of persons and properties.”

In essence, the police have a critical role to play daily in our society. This, I am very sure, no one contends.

In Afrobarometer Round 2 (2002), Ghanaians were asked to state their agreement or disagreement with the following statement, “The police always have the right to make people obey the law”.

In that year, as many as nine out of 10 (90%) agreed/strongly agreed with the statement. The sentiment remained high over the next six rounds of the survey when the question was repeated – 93 per cent (Round 3, 2005); 88 per cent (Round 4, 2008); 93 per cent (Round 5, 2012); 87 per cent (Round 6, 2014); and 90 per cent (Round 7, 2017).

So clearly, Ghanaians do not question the state’s legitimacy and the right of the police to enforce the law. That is a positive disposition to have because all citizens, I believe, prefer to live in a state where there is law and order. In addition, every citizen prizes dearly the feeling of security as they go about their everyday activities. 

Evaluation of police

In Afrobarometer Round 9 (2022), the survey included questions about police conduct and the way they exercise their legitimate state power of law enforcement. Here is what Ghanaians had to say about the police.

1.    Six out of 10 (64 per cent) applauded the police for sometimes/often operating professionally and respecting the rights of all citizens.

2.    Seven out of 10 (70 per cent) expressed concern that sometimes/often the police use “excessive force” when dealing with purported criminals.

3.    Six out of 10 (64 per cent) expressed concern that sometimes/often the police use excessive force in maintaining protests or demonstrations.

4.    Five out of 10 (49 per cent), among those who contacted the police, acknowledged it was easy/very easy to obtain help from the police. This was an improvement from Round 2(2002) where thirty-two per cent (32 per cent) said the same.

The challenges ahead

The disposition of citizens towards the police is somehow mixed. On the one hand, citizens a) acknowledge the legitimacy of police power b) accept that generally they act professionally and respect the rights of citizens and c) have improved in how much they feel it is easy to get help from the police.

But the same citizens, who strongly support the law enforcement role of the police, do have some legitimate concerns as well. The main issue is the use of excessive force.

As shared above from the Afrobarometer Round 9 (2022) survey, citizens feel excessive force is used in dealing with not only alleged criminals but also protestors and demonstrators.  

What further exacerbates the challenge faced by the police is the declining nature of trust in the institution, something that  other key institutions are also struggling with. In Afrobarometer Round 2 (2002) as many as 40 per cent (40 per cent) of Ghanaians expressed “a lot” of trust in the police. By Afrobarometer Round 9 (2022), that percentage had declined significantly to only seven per cent (7 per cent) saying they trust the institution “a lot.”

In such an atmosphere, exercising legitimate state power is always viewed through the lens of great suspicion. Where trust is low, no one gives institutions the benefit of the doubt.

This means that in the exercise of state power, there is a need to balance legitimacy with citizens’ concerns. And that is the delicate balancing act needed to ensure that

a) The Police can enforce the law and b) citizens can enjoy their constitutionally protected rights.

These balancing acts are never easy, but it is a burden the state must carry and discharge in a way that does not further erode the confidence and trust citizens have in the institution. This is especially important in how due process is handled during this balancing act.

The writer is the Project Director, Democracy Project