2 OFFICERS INTERDICTED * For professional misconduct

Front Page: Daily Graphic, May 4, 2009.
Story: Albert K. Salia
TWO senior police officers, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Kofi Danso Adei-Acheampong and Detective Chief Inspector Stephen Abanga, have been interdicted for professional misconduct.
Additionally, ACP Adei-Acheampong, who is the Hohoe Divisional Police Commander, and Chief Inspector Abanga of the same division, have been referred to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Headquarters in Accra to be investigated for possible prosecution.
They were accused of collecting GH¢6,000 from one Ernest Adzabo, a Tema-based businessman, and handed over to him exhibits retrieved from a destroyed Indian hemp farm in the Volta Region without taking any statement from him and also, not requesting of any ownership proof of the items.
The two senior police officers have also been accused of not mentioning to the court that the police had retrieved some exhibits from the original nine suspects, as well as releasing eight of them without consultation with the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB), with whom the police organised a joint operation to destroy Indian hemp farms in the Hohoe Division last month.
During the exercise, six million Indian hemp plants on a 90-acre of farm land were destroyed.
Items retrieved from the farm included two gasoline generators, one water pumping machine, two compressor machines, two weighing scales, four water hoses, seven unregistered locally manufactured guns, including one which was fully loaded, a number of live ammunition, gun powder, 69 decoplast containers, two boxes of pyraquet, one bag of rice, two bags of sugar and a quantity of dried leaves believed to be Indian hemp.
Sources at the Police Headquarters told the Daily Graphic that the action against the two officers was ordered by the acting Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mrs Elizabeth Mills-Robertson, to underscore her abhorrence for corrupt and unprofessional conduct and to instil discipline as part of measures to redeem the sunken image of the Ghana Police Service.
The source said on April 26, 2009, a whistleblower called the NACOB to notify its officials of the release of the exhibits to someone believed to be a financier of the Indian hemp plantations.
The sources said when the Police Administration’s attention was drawn to it, Mrs Mills-Robertson despatched a team, including the Executive Secretary of NACOB, ACP Robert Ayalingo, the Volta Regional Police Commander, DCOP Rose Bio-Atinga, and a member of the Police Intelligence and Professional Standards (PIPS) Bureau to visit the Hohoe Divisional Police Command to investigate the allegation.
According to the sources, ACP Adei-Acheampong allegedly admitted releasing the items to the alleged owners with the explanation that the owners denied cultivating the Indian hemp farms and was, accordingly, advised by the investigator, Chief Insp. Abanga to release the items, including the unlicensed weapons.
They said when asked about the identity and addresses of those who claimed ownership of the items, ACP Adei-Acheampong was unable to provide any as the police failed to take statements from them.
The sources said the visiting team was also informed that Chief Insp. Abanga proceeded on leave a day after the items were handed over to Adzabo, while eight suspects were also released on bail, with the exception of one person, Kwame Agbeko, alias Bob Rasta, who was remanded by the court.
Mrs Mills-Robertson told the Daily Graphic at the weekend that the conduct of the two police officers was highly unprofessional and embarrassing.
She was hopeful that other police officers would not repeat such mistakes, but would follow laid-down procedures in handling of suspects and exhibits.
She said she had already indicated to the personnel that nobody would be allowed to tarnish the image of the service, no matter their rank.
“If you will punish a junior officer for an offence, why not a senior officer. Senior officers should be leading by example,” she added.
Commenting on the issue, ACP Ayalingo said NACOB had adopted a strategy dubbed “Operation-Search-and-Destroy” of Indian hemp plantations at this time of the year, which he described as the cultivation season.
He said 12 more locations have been identified in other parts of the country and pledged that NACOB would destroy them before the rains set in.
ACP Ayalingo appealed to district assemblies to liaise with the local police and assist in identifying Indian hemp plantations.
He said it would be to the credit of any District Chief Executive or district assembly helping to successfully fight the drug war in their areas of jurisdiction.