SAD STORY OF A POLICEMAN

Mohammed Alhassan - Acting IGP

Posted on: www.dailyguideghana.com

By William Yaw Owusu

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Detective Inspector James Atta was an active investigator until 2006 when he was dismissed by the police administration for no reasonable cause.

He proceeded to court to protest the unjustifiable treatment meted out to him but after obtaining a judgement from an Accra High Court (Labour Division) for reinstatement, the Ghana Police Service blatantly refused to comply with the court’s order.

Narrating his ordeal to DAILY GUIDE, Inspector Atta, who was almost in tears, said he was attached to the Greater Accra Regional Criminal Investigations Department (RCID) when in 2006, a stealing case was referred to him for investigation.

He said the stealing case involved one Wisdom Donkor but after only three weeks a directive from the CID Headquarters came through to him that he should hand over the case to them because the complainant had petitioned the IGP which he did.

“One afternoon in 2006, I received directive from the CID headquarters that I should hand over a case I was investigating to another officer which I did immediately.”

“I handed over the case docket to Sergeants Tetteh and Aggrey, all of the Rapid Response Unit (RRU) for investigations to continue.”

He told DAILY GUIDE that “I also handed over the exhibits involved that were kept in the exhibit store room.”

He recollected that the suspect was tried at Accra Circuit Court 8 and convicted before the court ordered that the complainant should be given back the stolen items, which happened to be the exhibits.

According to Inspector Atta, the complainant came for the exhibits in his presence, and they (investigators and the storekeeper), opened the store but the exhibits were missing from the custody of the police.

He said he later got to know that the exhibits were auctioned at a time he travelled to his hometown to bury his twin brother.

“After three days, I was marched to the IGP’s office where he (IGP) told me that he had wanted to remove me from the service but because another superior officer intervened, I should expect my interdiction letter.”

He said after another three days he was interdicted and for one-and-half years he did not hear anything from the police administration on service enquiry.

Fed up with the attitude of his employers, Inspector Atta said he proceeded to court to seek justice but in the course of the proceedings, the IGP again sent for him and told him that he (IGP) had received the full facts of the matter and that he should submit himself for Departmental Trial.

He told DAILY GUIDE that at the Departmental Trial, one ASP Ayambilla was selected to hear the matter but he (officer) was bias towards him (Atta) and that compelled him to return to court.

He said for instance that at the Departmental Trial he told them that he had witnesses who knew about the exhibits but ASP Ayambilla did not allow him to bring in those witnesses.

Apart from the IGP, Inspector Atta cited the Police Council, Minister of the Interior and the Attorney-General in the suit.

In the judgement delivered by Justice Kwabena Asuman-Adu, the court held that even though the interdiction of Inspector Atta was not unlawful, “his subsequent dismissal from the Police Service based on the service enquiry was wrongful.”

The court ordered the plaintiff’s reinstatement as Inspector and promoted in accordance with his service conditions.

“It is ordered that the defendants pay to the plaintiff, his entitlements including allowances from the time of his interdiction till date,” and also awarded GH¢ 5,000 cost in favour of the plaintiff.