IGP Beats Retreat

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Tuesday November 1, 2011.
The Inspector-General of Police, Paul Tawiah Quaye yesterday beat a sharp retreat when he told an Accra High Court that he has agreed to re-instate 17 policemen who were dismissed from the service in 2007.

The issue of whether or not the 24 dismissed policemen should be re-instated sparked protracted legal battle after 17 of them brought the IGP to court for re-instatement and subsequently initiated contempt proceedings against the police boss in another court for flouting the order of certiorari.

A court presided over by Justice Edward Amoako Asante on October 27, re-affirmed its decision to order the police administration to re-instate the 17 after dismissing a motion by the IGP that sought to set aside the order of certiorari.

Yesterday, when the contempt application was called, DCOP Ken Yeboah, head of the Police Legal Department told the court presided over by Justice Denise Agyei of the Court of Appeal that the IGP had agreed to re-instate the 17 policemen.

DCOP Yeboah pleaded with the court to give the police administration 14 days to enable them to carry out the re-instatement order.

Justice Agyei therefore adjourned proceedings until November 21, for the parties to report to the court on whether or not the order was carried out.

On April 13, 2007, the police administration announced the dismissal of 24 policemen after a Police Enquiry established that they misconducted themselves by allowing the media to cover the bad accommodation problems facing them at the Police Barrack Depot in Accra.

The affected policemen, who were not given a fair hearing at the Police Enquiry sitting, challenged the decision to dismiss them and won the case but the police administration blatantly refused to re-instate them as directed by the court leading to the filing of contempt proceedings against the IGP.

It all started when 30 policemen were brought before the Police Service Enquiry Board on charges of misconduct in 2007 but each of them denied the allegation.

According to the policemen, even though they were questioned, they were not allowed to tell their side of the story or cross-examine the witnesses who testified at the enquiry and later all they heard was that only six had been cleared and the rest (24) given dismissal letters to take effect from May 1, 2007.

Based on this, their counsel, J.K. Yeboah first filed an order of mandamus at the High Court, presided over by Justice N.M.C Abodakpi on June 24, 2009 to compel the IGP to “furnish the applicants with the proceeding that culminated in their discharge within 30 days after the service of this order.”

It took several months for the police administration to comply with the court’s order and when they finally did the lawyer realized his clients had been unfairly dismissed per the proceedings.

He therefore filed a notice for judicial review in the nature of Certiorari under order 55 Rule1 of C.I. 47/2004 asking the court to compel the police administration to re-instate the dismissed policemen.

The respondent (IGP) was served with the processes but his counsel failed to attend court when the application was moved before Justice Asante who quashed the decision by the police administration to dismiss the applicants and also awarded cost of GH¢ 1,000 for each applicant against the respondent.

The police was also ordered to pay all entitlements due the applicants including salaries and allowances from the date of their unlawful dismissal.

However, since October 25, 2010 when the court gave the order, the police administration has refused to comply with the court’s order.