The Inspector–General of Police (IGP), Dr. George Akuffo Dampare has been challenged to either undertake or commission a study that can be used as the basis for contesting the credibility of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) survey which ranked the Ghana Police Service as the most corrupt institution in Ghana.
CHRAJ together with the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) and other partners conducted a survey on people’s views and experiences on corruption in Ghana and it found that the Ghana Police Service came top of the list of bribe takers.
Dissatisfied with the report, the IGP wrote demanding explanations as to how the research arrived at that conclusion and in parts, casting aspersions on the credibility of the research. The IGP in his letter pointed out what in his view are anomalies which could have affected the results of the survey, and concluded that the survey could be accurate.
“It is our considered view that the research and its findings are heavily challenged and corrupted from both the academic and practice point of view”, part of the IGP’s read.
Reacting to the development on TV3’s new current affairs and news analysis show, Ghana Tonight, Executive Director and Chief Party of Bureau of Public Safety, Nana Yaw Akwada, said the approach adopted by the IGP and the Ghana Police Service is wrong. He told host Alfred Ocansey the IGP should know better as regards challenging the CHRAJ’s survey.
“That’s not what progressive institutions do. And I think that the IGP himself being a PhD holder he is a researcher and he should know that you cannot sit in the comfort of your room and determine the scope of someone else’s research. At best if you want to rebut research, you rebut it with another research, so issuing statements to challenge a research piece is a low blow”, he said.
“We would want to see the police institution do their own independent research or carry out their own research and share with us so that we will also be able to tell them what is and what is not”, he added.
Meanwhile, the Afrobarometre report also ranked the Ghana Police Service as the most corrupt institution in Ghana. In fact, all surveys by the Centre for Democratic Development on corruption since 2002 saw the Ghana Police Service top the rankings. This, Mr. Akwaada said must be of concern to all.
Ghana Tonight airs every weekday on TV3 from 10:00pm to 11:00pm and hosted by Alfred Ocansey.