Marco legal aplicable

One of the significant features of colonialism is the consolidation of territories and politics and the dissolution of traditional empires or kingdoms. Violence perpetuated by the colonialists was both inevitable and necessary. For instance, the colonialists’ initial encounters with the colonised was mostly marked by violence and exploitation. “By dint of a great array of bayonets and cannons.” (Fanon 1963: 35). Similarly, post-colonial Ghana was characterised by various coups, which is also a characteristic of post-colonies (Fanon 1967) and changes of government which inevitably influenced the subsequent organisation of Ghanaian politics and their police.

Independence for Ghana began in 1951, and one of the key policies set out for independence by the first post-colonial Prime Minister, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, was the Africanisation of the police force. This meant that in order for the public to be able to relate to the Ghanaian police, required some professional changes, this included positions already occupied by the British within the police force would have to be occupied by Ghanaians.

When Ghana eventually attained independence in 1957, Mr E. T. Madjitey was the first Ghanaian appointed as the Head of the Ghanaian police.

Figure 2: Previous holders of the office of Head of the Ghanaian police: 1831- 1964 (Aning 2006)

This appointment was a significant step in symbolising that the Ghanaian police was to focus on the expectations and the needs of the people of Ghana. The name Ghana Police Force was changed to Ghana Police Service in order to give the institution a human face and, importantly, to aid the police to be seen as serving in the interests of the public.

Notably, when Dr Nkrumah was addressing the first graduation of police recruits in 1959 at the Police College, he stated that:

There are colonial police forces, which exist to enforce authority of a foreign power on a colonial people. In such forces, this will be demonstrated by the fact that the police will be peremptory and even brutal in their dealings with the inhabitants of the colony while they will be ingratiating

and subservient to those in authority. In a free and independent country, the conduct of the police must be the exact reverse of this. They must demonstrate to the people at large that the country is free and independent by behaving towards the ordinary man in the street with exactly the same politeness as they would behave towards those in superior positions (CHRI 2007: 12).

Based on the above, it can be argued that the statement was meant to convey to Ghanaians that the new political leadership of the nation was keen on setting up a police service that would serve, maintain and ensure the rights of the Ghanaian public. This reflected an inherent interest that Ghana should be regulated along acceptable values and norms of police conduct. Arguably, this was the era that marked the beginning of a form of post-colonial police professionalism and its aim to uphold the interests of the Ghanaian public (see also Gariba 2014).

After the attainment of independence, Ghana adopted a new constitution in 1960. This moved Ghana from a parliamentary system with a Prime Minister, to a republic with a President (Cyr 2001). However, in 1964, a new referendum initiated a one-party rule in Ghana (Aning 2006) and this changed the course of the policing once again. On the 2^nd of January 1964, a police officer made an attempt to assassinate President Kwame Nkrumah but the attempt was unsuccessful. Nonetheless, in the wake of this attempted assassination, the Police Commissioner and other senior police officers and prominent members of the society, such as politicians, were captured and detained. In response, the President made it known that he did not trust the Ghanaian police. This led to the belief

that the Ghanaian police were hugely susceptible to political influence and corruption and it prompted President Nkrumah to reduce the size of Ghanaian police from 13,247 in 1964 to 10,709 in 1965 (CHRI 2007). However, after two years the one-party rule did not materialise as hoped by President Nkrumah and, on February 24^th 1966 both the police and the military joined forces to overthrow Nkrumah’s government (Annan 2016).

The police were heavily involved in the coup, and this could arguably be seen as another form of police corruption. In other words, a subjugated political class influenced the police as part of strategy to overthrow or plot against an elected government. Hence, in order not to experience a similar fate, the succeeding government (the National Liberation Council) included four police officers and four military officers in its ranks (Harvey 1966; Annan 2016). The National Liberation Council subsequently enacted the Police Service Act 1965, which made some provisions for, “The organisation of the police service, the appointment, promotion and retirement of police officers and the conditions of service, disciplinary proceedings and other matters relating to the police service.” (CHRI 2007:13).

In view of police involvement in active post-colonial politics in Ghana, it can be argued that it became indispensable for the Police Service Act 1965 to be introduced, as it aimed to strengthen police oversight and make it possible for officers to account for police misconduct, such as corruption. In 1969, the National Liberation Council handed power to a new elected civilian government under a new constitution. The new 1969 Constitution established the Ghana Police Council, which also brought the police into the

folds of service for the general public (Aning 2006). A police legislation, which is still valid today, was then passed in view of the 1969 Constitution. The Police Service Act covered the functions of the Ghanaian police, structures and conditions for the administration of the police, police misconduct, unacceptable police services and complaints procedures (Quantson 2006; CHRI 2007). The Government kept on working towards police reform, assembled a committee to audit the police with particular attention on police structure and effectiveness as well as the condition of police equipment, establishing whether they were fit for purpose (Quantson 2006). By the 1970s, the Ghanaian police had tried to relinquish its oppressive past and attempted to gain increased legitimacy through being more accountable to the public.

The newly elected government was faced with economic hardships, which led to civil unrest, and the government was subsequently overthrown. This time, however, the coup was carried out by the Military in 1972 under the leadership of General Acheampong.

The government was replaced with the National Redemption Council, headed by the coup leader, General Acheampong (Quantson 2006). The senior team for the Council were constituted by military officers, the head of the police and a civilian. However, Acheampong was uncertain about the stability of his leadership and the intentions of the Military, he equipped the Police with sophisticated weapons as a counter force to the military in case they attempted to overthrow him (U. S. Department of State 2011). This brought the Ghanaian police back into active involvement in politics. The Police Service Act was changed to the Police Force Act, and the police was renamed back to the Ghana Police Force (CHRI 2007).

General Acheampong’s government was also faced with high levels of economic mismanagement and corruption (CHRI 2007; Briggs and Connolly 2016). In an attempt to introduce a non-party autocratic state, General Acheampong’s regime was faced with civil unrest which led to his Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Akuffo replacing him.

Akuffo, however, could not reign in an atmosphere of corruption and civil unrest and was disposed of via a bloody military coup in 1979 under the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council, led by Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings. Many junior police officers took part in the coup.

The nation’s political upheaval, as well as the constant involvement of the police in politics, rendered the Ghanaian police in a state of paralysis (Aning 2006; Asamoah 2014;

Beek 2016). Nonetheless, in September 1979, Jerry John Rawlings’ government handed power to a democratically elected government, underpinned by a constitution heavily influenced by Western examples of democratic systems (Quantson 2006). The elected government lasted for a short period but was again overthrown by Rawlings in 1981.

None of the civilian and military regimes during the mandate period [1957-1992], made any serious attempt to provide mechanisms that would enable the service to exercise its functions in the society efficiently and honestly, while respecting individual dignity, rights and liberties.

(CHRI 2007: 14)

Under the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC), Rawlings held on to power until 1992, when a new Constitution was drafted and enacted after a referendum. This

subsequently led to a presidential and parliamentary election. Under his rule, the police experienced a renaissance, moving away from political influences and its autocratic tendencies, towards a more inclusive and transparent constitution. The 1992 Constitution also made provisions for the creation of a police service, setting out the procedure for appointing the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and it also provided the basis for the instigation of a Police Council (CHRI 2007; Aning 2015).