Police Officer Implicated In Bribery Scandal

The police administration has been called upon to thoroughly investigate allegations of bribery leveled against a senior police officer at the Tema Community One Police station. A self-styled businessman, Charles Adombo has accused the CID boss at the Community One Police Station of collecting an amount of 33 million cedis for the release of over one thousand bags of sugar, which were confiscated in transit to Mali from the Tema harbour.

The CID boss, Inspector Ansu has denied the allegation. But the owners of the cargo, the Malian traders are crying foul saying the goods have been sold to unknown persons.

The missing cargo was part of a convoy of about 50 trucks loaded with sugar on their way to Mali from the Tema harbour. But according to a spokesman of the Malian traders, Hama Musah, one of the trucks with 1,100 bags of sugar was diverted by the driver known as Yahaya to an unknown destination.

But the police in Tema impounded the truck and its cargo when the driver failed to produce the correct registration papers for the truck. Musah told JOY FM that the police later released the cargo to the owner of the truck known as Fuseini under very strange circumstances.

Musah’s story was confirmed by a Tema based businessman, Charles Adombo who claimed that he led the owner of the truck to retrieve the truck and the cargo from the Tema Community One Police. Mr Adombo alleged that he paid 33 million cedis to Inspector Ansu of the Community One Police CID before the truck and its contents were released.

According to him, they made an initial payment of three million cedis and followed up with 30 million cedis three days later after which Inspector Ansu handed over the keys of the trucks to them. Mr Ansu said after the payment, Inspector Ansu told him to meet him at the station, where he gave him ?1.5 million as a reward.

Mr Adombo said he did not know that the Malians were the owners of the cargo. He told a local radio station that the truck owner, Fuseini sought his assistance to retrieve the truck and the cargo for which he offered the money for the bribe. Fuseini allegedly sold the bags of sugar worth over a hundred million cedis to a group of businesswomen. But, Mr Adombo is blaming the police for failing to arrest Fuseini when the crime was detected.

Meanwhile, transporters of goods from neighbouring land lock countries are threatening to stop using the Tema Harbour as the transit point for imports if the Police do not intensify investigations into the diversion of a truckload of sugar.