Inspector General of Police, George Akuffo Dampare, has refuted claims that his administration has held up the promotion of officers in the Police Service.

According to him, promotions are currently ongoing and deserving officers are either being promoted or in line for their promotion.

He noted that while the norm has been to promote officers after they have served a number of years, certain factors including issues of vacancy, competence and integrity also come into play to determine whether or not an officer should be promoted.

“There is no holdup of promotion of any junior officer in the whole Police Service. Even as we speak, the structure has been that any junior officer who is four years is sent to training and they’re promoted and we’re waiting to have all of them promoted.

“Those who are due, the next set of junior officers who are due for promotion – we have worked on trying to rebuild their capacity, and to send them to Akyerematen in the Eastern Region to reshape and recalibrate them. They are currently there and we are rolling out things and making sure that they’re promoted in December.

“And we’ve arranged it in such a way that it becomes something like a Christmas tour. So nobody in the service's promotion is being withheld by the service. So that is another set of concocted story that is being put out there for mischievous reasons,” he said.

Nonetheless, in May 2023, some aggrieved police officers sued the Attorney General, the Ghana Police Service, and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) for the failure of the Ghana Police Service to promote them.

In a suit filed at the High Court in Accra, the 82 police officers led by D/Inspector Kofi Osal claim they are due for promotions after completing their studies through the study leave with pay policy of the service.

However, they are yet to be promoted several months after the completion of their programmes.

Responding to this, the IGP said “every one of them with the exception of the few have been sent and the few who are there is based on the fact that beyond the number of years that you have been in the position, there [are] other factors, and I’m told a few is about seven or eight or nine – other factors that come into it.

“And those other factors include competence, include vacancy, include integrity… and beyond that it becomes the preserve of the police council and from that level they will make recommendations to his Excellency Mr. President for that to be effected.

“So as it stands everybody who is supposed to be promoted based on the junior rank has been done, everybody who is supposed to be promoted based on the senior rank has been done and that is where we are.”

He added that the recent delay in promotions is a fault of the Police Council and not his office.

“Honourable chair, that is the position because they are the people to promote and more importantly, recently a meeting was held and some consideration has been done. But the most important thing is that everybody who’s supposed to be promoted in line with our policies is being promoted.

“But the point that has to be made is that it’s not a question about how many years you have been at the place. We’ll have all loved to be promoted as soon as you’re four years and thereabouts. Vacancies, competence and other things factor into it. I myself at a point I was in my rank for six years and I didn’t complain because I understand,” he explained.