IGP Is Cheating Us - Junior Police Cry Out

Reports reaching The Herald indicate that some junior officers in the Ghana Police service are not happy about the police administration’s decision not to grant them study leave to pursue post-graduate studies.

They are, therefore, appealing to the Vice-President, John Dramani Mahama, who is also chairman of the police council, to intervene on their behalf to ensure that justice prevailed.

The reports say that sometime in the past, the police administration, using resource constraints as an excuse, granted study leave to just a handful of personnel who applied to further their education. Consequently, those who were denied the study leave opportunity used their leisure time to pursue various courses of study on part-time basis. This category of police personnel, over the years, has suffered the disregard of the police administration for their degrees, and hence, was not promoted on this basis.

However, in 2004/2005, The Herald gathered, the then police administration under the guise of an amnesty, promoted some of the affected personnel who were seen to be loyal to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government, leaving out those who were perceived to be sympathetic to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) party.

The reports say guidelines have just been published by the current administration on the awards of study leave for the 2011/2012 academic year.

And, those junior officers who had their first degrees through part time studies and were denied promotion based on the certificates of those studies, have applied for study leave to pursue various post-graduate studies, including masters degrees in courses published by the police administration to be critical to its strategic manpower development.

But the junior officers are being told that it is only senior officers who would be considered for the study leave to pursue Master’s degree courses.

“ This means that those of us whose first degrees did not earn us promotion to senior levels through the regular route or via the amnesty route, would not be considered for the study leave at the Masters level”, an affected junior officer who pleaded for anonymity, told The Herald.

The affected police officers feel cheated because even though they have served the minimum of eight years that qualifies them for study leave, they have never enjoyed the facility

“Just because we are junior officers, the police administration which is made up of senior officers, is discriminating against us as it insists on not considering us for the study leave.

“ The senior officers who will be granted study leave to pursue the Masters level courses, had benefited from study leave in the past when they studied for their first degrees, and would, therefore, be enjoying the study leave a second time whilst our very first attempt is being thwarted.

“If using our leisure time to pursue a course of study is, indeed a crime, then we is being punished twice for the same crime”, the junior police officer lamented.

The affected police personnel are of the view that the police administration’s refusal to promote them on the basis of their acquired certificates is enough punishment, even though the results of their studies have impacted well on their performance at work and to the benefit of the police service.

“ We are being punished the second time by the administration’s refusal to grant us leave to pursue the Master’s level courses it has advertised, even though we have the entry qualifications and also qualified for the award of study leave”, said the police officer.

He said they were being encouraged rather to apply for first degree courses.

“But if resource constraints are still a problem to the service, then they should rather give us a year’s study leave to pursue our Master’s programme, and come back to work rather than being encouraged to apply for first degree courses which will take us away from work for three to four years”, said the police officer, posing the question further that, “If our first degrees will never earn us promotion, and we would never be considered for study leave for the very first time even though we are due, then what shall we do?”

When The Herald contacted the Police Public Relations Officer, D.S.P Cephas Arthur, on the issue, he dismissed the complaints of the affected junior rank officers as misplaced.

According to him, the policy of the police service does not allow police personnel to embark on programmes that have not been endorsed by the administration because police officers are expected to be on duty at all times.

“The fact that you are off duty does not mean that you cannot be called to duty when the situation warrants it”, D.S.P Arthur explained.

According to him, any police officer who uses his leisure time to pursue any educational activity does so at the expense of the service and, therefore, any certificates acquired through the use of supposed service hours is not recognised as such.