US embassy cable - 05ACCRA350

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ACCRA 000350 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR INL / ERENI ROESS, DOJ FOR ICITAP / ERIC BEINHART 
AND MARIA VEGA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, SNAR, GH 
SUBJECT: INL PROGRAMS INITIATED ON COMMUNITY POLICING AND 
POLICE INTERNAL AFFAIRS UNIT 
 
REF: 04 ACCRA 01923 
 
------- 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
1. Two INL-funded programs in Ghana were successfully 
initiated in January. A new community policing unit was 
launched in Kumasi on January 28 (with twenty new patrol 
bikes) and the Embassy donated four computer workstations to 
the Ghana Police Service (GPS) on January 31. The launchings 
corresponded with a visit from INL and ICITAP 
representatives, who met with key Ghanaian law enforcement 
officials during their January 27 - February 1 orientation 
visit to Ghana. The GPS is eager for more cooperation from 
the USG. End summary. 
 
-------------------------------- 
BICYCLES HIT THE ROADS IN KUMASI 
-------------------------------- 
 
2. On January 28, the Ghana Police Service (GPS) launched a 
twenty-man community policing unit in Kumasi, the second 
largest city in Ghana. The new officers are stationed at the 
Kumasi police training college under the supervision of an 
Assistant Superintendent in charge of the new program. The 
regional police unit plans to train an additional 20 officers 
for the program once their transfers from other duties have 
been completed. The bicycles for this program were formally 
handed over to GPS headquarters in Accra in August 2004 
(reftel). Due to unforeseen personnel commitments to 
nationwide pre-election security, the training was delayed 
until January 2005. 
 
3. In a meeting on February 10 with PolOff, the Regional 
Commander for the Ashanti Region, Ofosu-Mensah Gyeabour, said 
he hoped to make the new community policing unit permanent. 
This would lessen concerns about the high turnover rate of 
officers in the GPS, which in the past has undermined efforts 
to institutionalize new initiatives such as community 
policing. PolOff stated that it was important to implement 
the program in such a way that knowledge and skills are not 
lost when trained officers eventually move on to other 
positions. 
 
4. Not surprisingly, Regional Commander Gyeabour requested 
further material support to sustain the program. Among his 
requests were the need for radios for each community policing 
officer and equipment to establish a secretariat office for 
the new program. While the GPS is prepared to commit office 
space at the police college for the secretariat, the 
resources for procuring equipment such as computers simply 
are not there, Gyeabour said. He also expressed concern over 
obtaining the parts necessary for repairing and maintaining 
the bicycles, which has been a problem for the Accra unit. 
 
5. The inauguration of the new Kumasi unit marks a notable 
step for the GPS in terms of sustainability. Rather than 
relying on USG trainers to instruct the officers (which 
happened in 2002 to launch the initial program), the police 
trained their own officers with help from the existing unit 
in Accra. With the kind of celebratory fanfare that often 
accompanies such events in Ghana, the unit displayed for 
PolOff a number of patrol techniques using the new bikes 
(including some entertaining role playing by unit officers). 
In discussions with the unit leaders after the display, it 
was clear that there are some officers who are seriously 
committed to institutionalizing the concept of community 
policing in Ghana. 
 
------------------------------------------- 
COMPUTERIZING THE GPS INTERNAL AFFAIRS UNIT 
------------------------------------------- 
 
6. On January 31, the Ambassador participated with the Chief 
Director of the Ministry of Interior, Mr. Edwin Barnes, and 
the Inspector General of the Police, Nana Owusu Nsiah, in a 
ceremony to donate four computer workstations to the GPS's 
Monitoring and Inspections Unit (MIU) in Accra. The 
INL-funded donation, valued at almost $20,000, completes a 
program begun in 2003 to build capacity for the GPS in 
monitoring its internal affairs and improving the 
anti-corruption capacity of the service. The ceremony 
received significant press coverage and the computers will 
transform the MIU from a paper file-based operation into an 
office that utilizes computerized case management. The GPS 
has hired a technical assistant from a local university to 
aid in training the police officers in using the new 
equipment. 
 
7. The MIU was established in 2000 to investigate complaints 
about the misconduct of police personnel both from within the 
GPS and from the public. In 2004, the MIU received a total of 
590 complaints or petitions against the police, reflecting an 
increase in 135 cases over the year before. In both 2003 and 
2004, the majority of these complaints was for the undue 
delay of cases, reflecting a significant backlog in case 
management by the police and judiciary. The computerization 
of the MIU is one step in the right direction toward 
assisting the GPS to overcome this backlog. 
 
8. As with the community policing program, the IGP and the 
Chief Director presented the Mission with requests for 
additional USG assistance. In his speech at the handover 
ceremony, the IGP made an appeal to the USG and other foreign 
donors for assistance in setting up a modern forensic 
laboratory in Ghana, for training opportunities outside of 
Ghana, and for the establishment of an exchange program with 
U.S. police officers (possibly with the Washington, D.C. 
police, which the IGP visited). In a private meeting on 
January 31 with PolOff and the visiting delegation from INL 
and ICITAP, the Chief Director noted that the USG "often 
provides for the children, but not for the father" in a 
request for material assistance and training at the 
ministerial level. He also noted the need for police 
exchanges with the U.S., curriculum training, and the police 
force's critical need for more physical space. 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
9. A number of mid-level police officers are committed to 
reform and have demonstrated a clear willingness to 
institutionalize new ideas and practices in the GPS. At the 
senior level, the GPS remains extremely hierarchical and 
conservative. When the GPS launched a community policing unit 
in Accra in 2002, many of the unit's officers left the unit 
soon after training. We are encouraged that the GPS seems to 
be thinking more about institutionalizing training, which 
should magnify the impact of USG programs. Post has engaged 
several up-and-coming officers in an attempt to nurture these 
new INL-funded programs. Although the GoG is utilizing USG 
assistance well in this capacity, it has a long wish list and 
further assistance will be required to help the GoG more 
firmly establish new programs. The challenge lies in 
identifying the priority areas for training and material 
assistance, and in helping the GoG put in place measures to 
sustain them over time. End comment. 
YATES