Corruption and bribery inside the police force is so bad that the Ghanaian police officers have been ranked the highest bribe takers.
A viral video circulating on social media platforms clearly depicts the scandalous act of some Ghanaian Police officers.
Whistle-blower in the viral video was seen cautiously captured police officers assigned to a Toyota Corolla vehicle with registration number GP 5040.
According to the Whistle-blower who hired the Uber car, the police officers asked the driver to stop and hand over his license which he did.
He said some minutes later the officers asked the Uber driver to pay an amount of GH₵200 without any just cause before they released his license to him.
It was a sad moment for the driver who complained bitterly that his sales for the day were not up to GH₵200 and pleaded with the police officer to spare him but that was not an option.
Statement issued by the Ghana Police Service indicates that the Administration is currently investigating the video attached to the post and its officers who were assigned to the Toyota Corolla vehicle with registration number GP 5040.
The Police noted that it appreciates the “Whistle-blower” who took the video and will work with him/her in their investigations.
“The identity of the whistleblower shall be protected. The driver in the video or any other person who may have more information are also encouraged to contact the police on the following numbers: 0244236266, 18555 or 191 or send a WhatsApp message to the Police number 0206639121.” GPS stated
Police officers in Ghana, among other countries, are perceived as being “especially corrupt”.
In a survey conducted by Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), Transparency International’s local branch (GII n.d.), 76.8 percent of respondents indicated that the Police Service was considered one of the top ten most corrupt institutions in Ghana (July 2005, 7).
Procedure followed to file a complaint against a police officer
The information in the following two paragraphs was provided by the Director-General of Strategic Direction and Monitoring Directorate of the Ghana Police Service in correspondence with the Research Directorate (Ghana 10 Aug. 2006). There are three ways to file a complaint against a police officer:
1) Make a written complaint to the Inspector-General of Police or the Director-General (DG) of the Police Intelligence and Professional Standards (PIPS) bureau;
2) Make a verbal complaint by appearing in person to the office of the DG of PIPS;
3) Make a complaint by telephone to the office of the DG of PIPS.
The Director-General also provided the following statistics regarding complaints received by PIPS:
[A]t the close of the year 2005, the [PIPS] Bureau received two hundred and ninety-six (296) cases which have been classified as follows:
(a) harassment, unlawful arrest and detention 30
(b) misconduct (administrative lapses) 34
(c) misappropriation of exhibits 28
(d) unprofessional handling of cases 31
(e) extortion (corruption) 26
(f) police brutalities 30
(g) undue delay of investigations 79
(h) indulgence in civil cases 28
(i) withholding of exhibits 10