[ 2012-05-08 ]

Court orders police to reinstate five Cops
The Fast Track High Court has given the Ghana
Police Service and two others 14 days to reinstate
five policemen who were dismissed in March 2011
for alleged misconduct.

It also ordered the Police Service, its Central
Disciplinary Board and the Attorney-General to
reinstate the five policemen in their various
offices and positions with full benefits and
emoluments before the commencement of the
disciplinary proceedings.

It also prevented the respondents from taking any
steps to eject the applicants from their official
residences and further awarded total costs of
GH¢2,500 against the respondents.

Each applicant benefitted from a GH¢500 cost.

The five — General Lance Corporals Isaac Annan,
Dominic Amezah, George Akoi, Anthony Adjei and
Collins Ohemeng — were dismissed in March 2011 by
the Central Disciplinary Board of the Ghana Police
Service for various acts of misconduct, neglect of
duty, conspiracy to take part in an unauthorised
operation, making false entries in an official
document, among others.

The five policemen, who were alleged to have gone
on an unauthorised operation with Lance Corporal
Ekow Russel, were, in July 2007, put before the
Greater Accra Regional Tribunal but the charges
were withdrawn against them.

However, Lance Corporal Russel, who was alleged to
have given unspecified amounts of money to the
five applicants, is currently serving a 12-year
jail term.

His accomplice, Maxwell Antwi, who pleaded guilty
to the charge of possessing a narcotic drug
without lawful authority, cited Russel as the
supplier of the narcotic drug.

They were both convicted on March 24, 2011 but
Antwi died in detention some time later.

Following developments in relation to the roles
the five applicants allegedly played in the
unauthorised operation on January 15, 2007, the
Central Disciplinary Board of the Ghana Police
found the applicants guilty of misconduct and
other offences and subsequently dismissed them.

Dissatisfied with the board’s decision, the five
applicants filed an application for a judicial
review, citing breaches of the rules of natural
justice, lack of jurisdiction and error of law
based on the records available.

Ruling on the application for a judicial review,
the court, presided over by Justice K. A.
Ofori-Atta, held that the Central Disciplinary
Board breached laid down procedure as stipulated
in the regulations governing the Police Service.

It held that the regulations stated that officers
investigated by the board must not be below the
rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police, adding
that the appointment of a senior police officer to
hold a service enquiry in respect of the
applicants was procedurally inappropriate.

It, accordingly, declared the entire proceedings,
as well as the decision by the senior officer who
presided over the enquiry, as null and void.

Citing authorities to reinforce its decision, the
court held that all acts, directives, signals and
orders in respect of or in consequence of the said
decision were void and of no legal effect.

Consequently, it directed the respondents to
reinstate the applicants within 14 days of the
receipt of the court order.

It also restrained the respondents from
interfering with the status of the applicants or
ejecting them from their residences or barracks or
classes in which they were immediately before the
disciplinary proceedings.

Source - Daily Graphic

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