Address By His Excellency John Agyekum Kufuor At The Graduation Of The 41st Cadet Officers Course At The Police College

Address Delivered By His Excellency John Agyekum Kufuor, President Of The Republic Of Ghana, At The Graduation Of The 41st Cadet Officers Course At The Police College, Accra, 20th June, 2008.

Members of the Council of State,
Honourable Ministers and Members of Parliament,
Chairman and Members of the Police Council,
Your Excellencies, Members of the Diplomatic Corps,
The Inspector-General of Police,
The Chief of Defence Staff,
Heads of Allied Security Services,
Members of the Police Headquarters Management and Advisory Board,
Other Senior Police Officers,
The commandant of the Police College,
Our Esteemed traditional Rulers,
Distinguished Ladies and gentlemen,

I am pleased to be here this morning to review the graduation parade of the Cadet Officers’ Course 41 and to commission members of the batch into the Senior Officers Corps of the Ghana Police Service.

This being my last review of such a parade at this College, it is only natural that I would want to reflect on the state of the Police Service as it was 8 years ago when I assumed office as President of this nation.

Then, the entire Service stood at 15,983 strong, which, in relation to the country’s population of about 22 million, was a ratio of 1:1,126. That is to say, for every 1,126 people in the country, there was one policeman. The United Nations recommends one policeman or woman for every 500 individuals.

Over the past seven and a half years, the strength of the Service has been increasing steadily to the current of 22,313 which makes it a ratio of one policeman to 994 citizens. This is substantial progress which brings Ghana closer to achieving the UN standard.

With the growing Service, police divisions have increased from 30 too 54; police districts from 140 to 188; and police stations from 626 to 675. Government’s goal is to extend the services of the police to the remotest community in this country.

Ladies and gentlemen, some District Assemblies have shown great initiative by building police stations with modern infrastructure in their respective jurisdictions.

I wish to take advantage of this happy occasion to commend the Assemblies which are taking this initiative. Government’s policy is to complement such efforts with the provision of barracks. In the interim, I urge the Assemblies to make the necessary arrangements to house the policemen and women.

Ladies and gentlemen, government appreciates the enormity of the accommodation problem facing the Police Service generally, but more so in the fast sprawling metropolises of Accra, Kumasi, Takoradi and Tema.

Heavy investments are already being made to provide residential accommodation in the many of the barracks, but much more remains to be done to achieve a lasting solution to the problem. Indeed, government is engaged with some companies in designing modern and suitable barracks for Service personnel in strategic areas in the cities. Agreements are expected to be reached in the course if this year for implementation of the policy to become a reality. This is part of a general re-development of barracks Policy for Security Services which has been approved by Cabinet.

Ladies and gentlemen, you must have noticed that policemen and women look smarter and more stylish these days. This is because government and the leadership of the Service have been in consultation to improve the general motivation for policemen and women. Thus, the old all-purpose uniform which was used indiscriminately for office, night and operational duties is being discarded. The new uniform takes account of climatic conditions of the country, as well as the different work times and duties to be undertaken. I should congratulate the Police Administration for the bold initiative which is proving to be a great morale booster.

Ladies and gentlemen, the new policy is also reflected in the provision of vehicles, communication gadgets and modern office equipment all of which are contributing to enhancing the administrative as well as the operational efficiency and effectiveness of the Police. In due course, all new police stations will be served with vehicles and communication equipment.

Central to the policy of modernising the Service and making it more efficient, government has adopted a programme to standardise the vehicles and models that are suitable for the nation’s Security Services taking into account the terrain, durability and maintenance.

I am pleased to announce here, that the last batch of vehicles supplied by the Paramount Logistics Corporation of South Africa is expected to arrive within the next 2 months. Some of these vehicles will be allocated to the National and Regional Highway Patrol Units to boost the Highway Patrol System throughout the country.

Furthermore, the first batch of riot control vehicles expected from South Africa would also replace the old MOWAGs at the Armoured Car Squadron Unit that have been in Service for more than 30 years.

Ladies and gentlemen, government is stepping up the policy of training and retraining of police officers both in Ghana and abroad. In pursuance of this, government is sponsoring training programmes for officers in the countries of some of our development partners including the United States of America, UK, France, China and India. Courses like criminology, and police management, clinical psychology, rapid deployment mechanism, ICT and both English and French languages are being focused on as critical to enhancing operational efficiency of officers and equipping them for the challenges of the global world and our sub-region in particular.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am happy to note that crime rate in most offences have generally gone down. Unfortunately, there have been corresponding increases in armed robberies and what may be described as smart crimes including the use of ICT; ramifications have created new challenges for the Police Service.

The Service must be aware of these new challenges and develop the necessary flexibility to meet them effectively. Government is committed to making the necessary provision to equip the service for this purpose.

Ladies and gentlemen, the robberies and the smart crimes aside, the other problems of deep concern are the chieftaincy and ethnic clashes that continue to erupt in certain parts of the country. They are a drain on the society and economy and mar the otherwise positive law-abiding image of our country.

In this respect, I will entreat our elders, opinion leaders, religious leaders, academicians and influential people in society to use their positions to champion the cause of peace in their respective traditional areas.

Yet another area of concern is the image of the Police Service which has been brought into disrepute by the questionable handling of cases of narcotic trafficking in the country. Government is determined that the Service is purged of this stigma that undermines its very raison d’être. I therefore urge all personnel to be resolved to expose the bad nuts in their ranks that are tarnishing the hard-won image of the Service.

The society as a whole should stand behind the Service generally, to weed out the miscreants. Some dramatic successes have been achieved in narcotics control, and I want acknowledge the co-operation the Service has been getting from some of our development partners including the USA and the UK.

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I should use this occasion to extol the officers and men of the service for the dedicated service and high professionalism they displayed during the 50th Anniversary Celebration, the African Union Summit, the Ghana CAN 2008 tournament and the 12th UNCTAD Conference. Their strategic planning and implementation of arrangements including contingencies, made these important national and international events largely free of incidents.

Indeed, the Police Service was at its best in all these landmark occasions. This should convince the nation of the great potential of the Police Service. Government will go to all ends to help the Police to realise and sustain this potential to underpin the law and order of the country.

As the nation braces itself for the upcoming elections, the society expects the service to continue to exhibit the same or even more professionalism, effectiveness and social commitment. This should guarantee free, fair and credible elections. In this respect, Ghana needs the support of all individuals and institutions especially, the Electoral Commission and the Political Parties. They must co-operate with the Police for a successful election in December.

To conclude, ladies and gentlemen, it must be observed that, generally, there has been some improvement in the attitude of the officers and men in their relationship with the public. However, there is still room for further improvement. The Service is a disciplined one and there must be no room for recalcitrance and incorrigibility among personnel. The Police Administration must show leadership of the highest quality, to set the needed example for the rank and file to follow. There must be no room for violation of the rules and regulations of the Service.

This is what the nation expects you, the graduating Cadet Officers, to uphold. Your conduct should reflect the quality of training you have received at this college.

You must gird your loins for the task ahead of you and always let integrity, truth and fortitude be your guiding principle. The motto of the Police Service which is – “Service with Integrity" – must underpin all your endeavours as commissioned Senior Officers of the Service.

You will excel in your chosen career if you work assiduously with these principles and collaborate with your seniors, your peers and junior officers.

I now congratulate you on your smart turn-out and drill at this parade.

Now ladies and gentlemen, may I invite all of you to rise while I confer the Presidential Commission on these successful graduating cadet officers.

(His Excellency the President pauses for Parade Commander to call parade to attention and then reads the proclamation below)

In pursuance of the powers vested in me under the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana, I declare these Cadet Officers of the Ghana Police College Course 41, duly Commissioned into the Senior Officer Corps of the Ghana Police Service with the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police.

Thank you and may God Bless us all.