IGP solicits support from colleagues?

Information is rife that within the next few weeks a new Interior Minister will be appointed. The appointment of a substantive Minister of the Interior has become necessary following rumpus within the Police Administration as to who should become the next Inspector-General of Police (IGP), as the present IGP, Mr. Ernest Owusu Opoku attained age 60 on 3 June 2002.

Highly-placed sources close to the Presidency hinted that the Minister of Defence Dr Kwame Addo-Kufuor, now the acting Minister of the Interior, is likely to become the substantive Minister of Interior. It is yet to be known though, who would succeed Dr Addo-Kufuor as the Defence Minister. Sources close to the police headquarters also told The Evening News that immediately after a substantive Minister of Interior is announced, that of the IGP would follow.

However, Mr Owusu-Poku is making everything possible to retain his position as IGP. According to the sources, the two other officers who are also due for retirement, Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of Communications Service, Mr Sowatre and Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Technical Service, Mr W. Kumi are contemplating that they would also not leave if the present IGP is given the two-year contract by government and retained as IGP.

It said, following the story published by the Evening News that the IGP has refused to retire, he convened an emergency meeting involving Greater Accra and Tema Regional Commanders and scheduled officers to allegedly solicit their support to have him retained as IGP.

But it is said that he (IGP) failed to convince them at the meeting, summoned at the instance of the IGP and chaired by the Director of Administration, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mr Kwesi Nkansah, did not achieve the desired results. One other source, however, told the paper that the meeting was convened to find out leak to the Evening News the frantic efforts of the IGP to seek audience with the presidency to have him retained.

The source said, now there is a culture of silence among senior police officers as everybody who dared to speak his or her mind stood the chance of becoming a target of victimisation. However, the source said Police Personnel hailed the Positive Change brought by the NPP government into the Police Service by the appointment of Mr Owusu-Poku, at the time that the party assumed the reigns of power.

With Mr Owusu-Poku as the IGP, having attained the retirement age, the source said personnel are looking forward to President Kufuor?s administration going by the same procedure and not bypassing the most Senior Officer to appoint a junior as the new IGP. Police personnel spoken to said the practice where the NDC regime promoted Junior Commissioners to the post of IGP for the past five to six years should be discouraged by the Kufuor administration.

However, staff list to IGP chanced upon by the Evening News gave the names of the senior most police Officers as commissioner in charge of Legal and Prosecution, Mr Sam Awortwi, The Commandant of the Police College at the Depot, Mr Joe Mprah and Commissioner, in charge of Welfare, Mrs Jane Donkor, who will start her leave in December this year prior to retirement.

The list named the Junior Commissioners as Deputy Commissioners of Police, Dr K.K Manfo, Greater Accra Regional Commander and D. Cop Mr P.K. Acheampong.