The Supreme Court has stayed the execution of a Court of Appeal judgment ordering the promotion of 40 police officers who sued the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Christian Tetteh Yohuno, over their exclusion from a promotion programme.

The decision suspends the implementation of the Court of Appeal’s order while the legal challenge proceeds.

The Court of Appeal had overturned an earlier High Court ruling that dismissed the officers’ case and directed the police authorities to effect their promotions.

The dispute stems from an amnesty granted by the Police Management Board in 2021, which made officers enlisted between December 2008 and 2020 and holding first degrees eligible for promotion.

The 40 officers argued that they were unfairly excluded from the programme despite some of their colleagues, including officers junior to them, benefiting from the arrangement.

They were seeking promotion from Chief Inspectors to Assistant Superintendents of Police (ASPs).

The officers also pointed to promotions granted to other personnel, including those from Corporal to Sergeant, Sergeant to Inspector, and Inspector to Chief Inspector, as evidence of what they considered unequal treatment.

Dissatisfied with their exclusion, they sued the IGP and the Police Management Board at the High Court in Kumasi, seeking an order compelling the authorities to promote them.

However, the High Court dismissed the action, prompting the officers to appeal the decision.

The Court of Appeal subsequently ruled in their favour, overturning the High Court’s decision and ordering that their promotions be effected.

The latest Supreme Court order halts the execution of that judgment pending the determination of the appeal before it.