Two retired police officer dare Ministry

Six months after the Attorney General's office ordered the payment of 104,802,915 to two police officers who were compulsorily retired at 55, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) has still not found the monies for them.

The said order dispatched per letter with reference D/39/SF4/V5A/34 dated 24 June 2002 and signed by the deputy Attorney General Ms Gloria Akuffo, followed a judgement entered in favour of the plaintiffs by a Kumasi High Court on 11 December 2000.

Both officers who rose to the rank of deputy Superintendent of Police, having served for 32 years have dared the Ministry of Finance to pay them their entitlements or they advice themselves.

In a complaint to "Chonicle" in Kumasi, the aggrieved police officers, M. K. Dzakah and Martin Sarpong, stated that they were both retired compulsorily from the Ghana Police Service in 1993, at the age of 55 contrary to the provisions of Article 190(1) of the 1992 Constitution.

Contesting their claim, the police officers described their retirements as premature, wrongful and unconstitutional, invalid and to no effect. They claimed 38,117,354 cedis being the financial loss suffered because of their premature retirement in 1993 to the judgement date in 11 December 2000.

Having entered judgement for the first plaintiff in the sum of 17,186,384.74 plus interest at 45% (amounting to 56,715,069.69 cedis) and 16,821,5477.75 plus 45% interest totalling 56,1141,191.63 for the second plaintiff, 146,864,917.81 was supposed to have been paid to the retired officers.

However, the Attorney General's office, which was jointly and severally sued with the Inspector General of Police, requested the Bank of Ghana to assist in the computation of interest on the said amounts from 1992 to December 2000 upon which instance the interest payable on the principal sum for the two reduced to 106,898,254.

In a subsequently negotiated settlement between the solicitor for the police officers and the A-G's office, the second accrued interest was to be shared in the ratio of 2/3 to 1/3 in favour of the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs by this arrangement were to absorb 35,603,2770 while the defendants (A-G's office and IGP) were to be saddled with 71,292,984.

The principal sum of 33,507,931, worked out by the Ghana Police Service for the attention of the A-G's office by Supt. D. J. Avorgah for the Commissioner of Police in-charge of Legal and Prosecution on 27 August 2001 following directives of the IGP, was to be paid together with the accruing interest of 771,292,984 (as agreed upon) totalling 104,802,915.

At the time of filing this report not a cedi had been paid. The complaints report that the Ministry of Finance is constantly slapping them in the face with the "no money" excuse on the numerous occasions they had demanded payment of their entitlements due them. It is in the light of these that the two retired police officers are reminding the Ministry of Finance to honour this obligation else they would advice themselves.