Some retired senior police officers have showered praises on the former Inspector General of Police, Mr. Partrick Kwateng Acheampong for the sterling work he did while in office at the Ghana Police Service. The retired senior officers debunked a report that called out the former IGP and described him as the worse IGP in the history of Ghana.
The Senior ex-police officers are former Director General of the Criminal Investigation Department, Commissioner Bright Oduro, former Director General of National Patrols, Commissioner Patrick Aklogo, former medical Director of the Police Hospital Commissioner Harold Agbenu, the former Ashanti North Regional Commander, Deputy Commissioner Anderson Fosu Ackah, and former Operations Commander of Accra Regional Command, Deputy Commissioner Kwesi Ofori.
DCOP Ofori stated that Mr. Acheampong supervised the security operations of the 2008 Presidential elections that resulted in three rounds of voting which was largely incident free even though there was serious tension among the political divides.
He noted that the former IGP is credited for the introduction of contemporary policing courses in police training institutions and extending police recruitment process to the rural communities especially in Northern Ghana to enhance inclusivity.
“The development of strategic policy directions for Ghana Police Service and enhancement of community policing, he facilitated the introduction of performance management tools for the assessment of police personnel, he introduced a number of courses/measures to raise professionalism in the Police,” He stressed.
DCOP Ofori noted that Mr. Acheampong facilitated a successful implementation of a Public Private Partnership (PPP) that resulted in the construction of Cantonment flats and police offices and also played a pivotal role in the acquisition of a fleet of Peugeot vehicles for the Ghana Police service.
He said that the introduction of camouflage uniform for the police was Mr. Acheampong’s initiative and “on his retirement, he remains a valuable human capital to Ghana Police as he continues to impart knowledge to personnel across police training institutions.”
DCOP Fosu-Ackah stated that “under his watch, crime rate was low, he supervised a peaceful election in 2008, the runoff was very much heated but there was no incident, he organized a crime free 2008 African Cup of nations.
He said Mr. Acheampong extended the location for the training of detectives to Pwalugu in the Upper East region, to avoid congestion in the training schools in Winneba and Accra.
“The general welfare of the police was his welfare, he supervised the security of the African Union Summit, Ghana@50 celebrations, the visit of the then USA president George Bush, during his tenure, there was general Discipline in the police service.” He argued.
On his Part, Commissioner Agbenu stated that “IGP Acheampong is one of the best I have seen in my over 25 years experience in the service.”
He argued that the former IGP is the first IGP to have championed the biggest refurbishment of the police hospital and also provided multiple mobile clinics to reduce the congestion at the police hospital.
Mr. Oduro in his turn queried that “how will you come into a conclusion that Mr. Acheampong is the worse IGP, which research did they conduct, which officers were sited to have made such comments, what was the yardstick, what did he do to warrant such a comment.”
He argued that if Mr. Acheampong did not serve the service well, he would have been removed, however, Mr. Acheampong served from 2005 to 2009 and left as one of the longest serving IGPs in Ghana.
According to Mr. Akologo, Mr. Acheampong gave the opportunity to the civilian police to join mainstream police service adding that “he encouraged the civilian police to join the police service by furthering their education and today some of them are senior police officers.”
“In my 30 years at the police service, I have seen a lot of IGPs, and Patrick is one of the best IGPs I have seen,” Mr. Akologo concluded.
