It’s wrong to replace dead police officer with relative – Prof. Asare to IGP

He said this in a post on his Facebook page on Friday, August 12, 2022, saying the said policy would be an affront to good governance practice.

“Sorry IGP, but GOGO is not for replacing policemen who die on duty with their relatives,” Kwaku Azar wrote.

He explained in a separate post that "public sector jobs cannot be devised or inherited. Survivors Benefits are paid for a reason," adding "Public sector hiring needs less, not more, protocols, favoritism, discrimination, and conflicts of interest."

The Inspector-General of Police, Dr George Akuffo Dampare, had disclosed that the service was considering recruiting qualified relatives of police officers who die in the line of duty.

According to the IGP, the initiative will compensate for the loss.

He further explained that the move would also encourage the serving officers to give their best.

“When a police officer dies on duty, we have put new measures in place to ensure that a relative of the deceased officer who is qualified is recruited into the service as part of efforts to urge our officers to do their best in protecting the public,” the IGP said while delivering a public lecture at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) on Thursday, August 11.

“We want a police service of the people, by the people and for the people. We want to make the service the best institution in the country and a reference point in the world,” he added.

The IGP also reiterated that the police administration will continue to object to and challenge the tag that it is the most corrupt institution in the country.

Dr Akuffo Dampare stated that research that points to the police as being the most corrupt institution in the country has challenged methodologies.

“We decided to access ourselves from your perspectives. We have been tagged as unprofessional, corrupt and what have you. We are not denying that we may have some recalcitrant officers amongst us, we are doing all we can to pluck them out. But we will never accept that we are the most corrupt institution.

“Criticise us but please do so constructively so that the men and women of the service are not demoralised,” Dampare said.

A survey conducted by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) together with other stakeholders had tagged the Ghana Police Service as the most corrupt institution, a report the service rejected and challenged its methodology.