A Kumasi High Court has dismissed the suit filed against the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the Attorney General, seeking, among others, an order for promotion.
The suit, with the number GJ12/83/23, was filed by Chief Inspector Samuel Krah on July 5, 2023 but the judgement was given on June 14, 2024.
In the over 30-page judgement, the presiding judge, Justice K.A. Gyimah, having weighed the evidence brought forth by the plaintiff and defendant, said “In the light of the above discussions and holdings, I am unable to grant the plaintiff’s claims and the same is dismissed.”
The judge held that if the plaintiff could not run to court for succour after failing to follow laid-down rules and regulations in the police service.
According to the court, it could not grant the relief to compel the Police Administration to promote him, as it was his own personal decision to upgrade himself without the involvement of the police service.
The judgement said that the grant of amnesty promotion by the police service to some personnel, including the plaintiff, was purely an administrative decision, adding that it is within the right of the police administration to do so if the exigencies of the service demand it.
“That does not, however, mean that this court will compel the police service to continue granting amnesty promotion or amnesty admission into the police academy,” the judgement said.
The court, in coming to a conclusion, relied on C.I. 76 and other service instructions, which it said were the rules and regulations regulating promotion in the police service, “and the plaintiff as a serving police officer is bound by the said regulations.
“He (the plaintiff) should, therefore, abide by the said regulations and continue writing the police academy entry examinations, and his perseverance will surely pay off one day.
“If the stars shine on him and he is fortunate to receive a special recommendation too, he should be thankful,” the court added.
The court ordered the first defendant, the IGP, to pay outstanding salary arrears to the plaintiff, as evidence showed he was promoted to Chief Inspector Maximum in July 2021, but was paid salary on that scale from July 2023 to June 2023.
CLAIMS
The court heard the case on six reliefs against the defendants, including an order directed at the 1st and 2nd defendants to promote the plaintiff based on his educational certificates, taking into consideration the years the plaintiff obtained the said certificates.
He sought an order directed at the 1st and 2nd defendants to review the plaintiff’s Advanced Business Certification Examination (RSA Stage III) results slip and Bachelor of Business Management Certificate to allow the plaintiff to gain direct entry into the police academy unreservedly.
The suit also asked for an order directed at the 1st and 2nd defendants to restore the loss of income due to the plaintiff as a result of the 1st and 2nd defendants’ actions in not promoting the plaintiff accordingly.
The plaintiff, Chief Inspector Samuel Krah, sought an order directed at the 1st and 2nd defendants to hand over to him the original copy of his advanced business certification examination, RSA III, which is in the custody of the 2nd defendant.
He asked for costs and legal fees, but the court ordered all parties to bear their own costs associated with the legal trial.
CASE ON PROMOTION
According to the judgement, it was the plaintiff’s case that he was enlisted in the Ghana Police Service in 1997 and passed out as a constable in 1998.
He averred that in 2002, while stationed at Bunkprugu in the Northern Region of Ghana, a complaint was lodged against him, which led to his interdiction for a period of two years, while a formal investigation in respect of the said complaint was ongoing.
It was the case of the plaintiff that, whilst on interdiction, he decided to build his capacity by upgrading himself and therefore enrolled and obtained the advanced business certificate examination RSA III (ABCE RSA III) in the year 2003.
It was his case that, upon the advice of the Attorney General, his interdiction was lifted in 2005.
He argued that it is the norm, practice, and convention of the Ghana Police Service that an officer under interdiction can improve himself and, when interdiction is lifted, can submit any certificate he has obtained for purposes of promotion.
He asserted that after obtaining the ABCE RSA III certification, he applied through the chain of command to be promoted from the rank of Lance Corporal to the rank of Sergeant, but he did not receive any response from the police administration.
The plaintiff, however, asserted that the police administration, at a point in time, requested the original copy of his ABCE RSA III certificate, which he submitted through the usual chain of command, a document the police administration has not returned to him nor was he promoted.
CASE ON ADMISSION
According to the plaintiff, in 2005, the police administration issued a circular for interested and qualified personnel to apply for study leave with pay, and he applied but was not given the study leave.
The excuse was that the course he intended to pursue had not been approved, but he said that was not the case as the course was approved on the list of courses.
He told the court that though he was not granted study leave, he decided to pursue the course on his own and paid his tuition out of his personal resources while performing his usual duties.
Upon successful completion of the programme, he submitted his certificate to the police administration for an academic promotion, but was not considered, despite numerous petitions he had submitted to the police administration.
AMNESTY PROMOTION
The plaintiff stated that the police service issued a directive on February 8, 2021, to all personnel of the service that those who passed out from the training school on or before December 31, 2008, and who had been awarded degrees on or before December 31, 2020, should submit certified copies to the headquarters by February 28, 2021, for a special exercise.
The plaintiff said he complied with the said directive, but the police administration granted promotion on an amnesty basis to some of the personnel without him.
He said that he petitioned the police administration about the issue, but fell on deaf ears up to the date he issued his writ.
According to him, most of his juniors and service mates have all been granted promotion, but he has not.
This, he said, was a violation of his rights as an officer of the Ghana Police Service by the defendants, and he thus prayed the court for the grant of the reliefs listed above.
DEFENCE ON ADMISSION
According to the judgement, the defendants entered their appearance and duly filed their defence, essentially denying the plaintiff’s claim before the court.
The first defendant admitted the interdiction of the plaintiff and the lifting of the same, but noted that after that, “the plaintiff was promoted to be at par with his colleagues.”
The court said the 1st defendant, in response to the plaintiff’s acquisition of the ABCE RSA III certificate, asserted that the plaintiff acquired the said certification for his own personal benefit while on interdiction. As such, the certification has nothing to do with the Ghana Police Service since it was not approved or sanctioned in line with the regulations of the Ghana Police Service.
“The plaintiff was, therefore, not entitled to an academic promotion based on the said certificate,” the IGP defended.
The court said that the 1st defendant informed it that though a circular was issued in 2005 for personnel who were interested to apply for study leave, the plaintiff’s application got to the attention of the police administration only after the deadline when all the applications had been reviewed, approved, or denied with stated reasons.
The first defendant said that study leave with or without pay was not automatically granted, but was regulated by certain factors, including the number of years served and whether or not the course applied for was approved.
According to the 1st defendant, though the plaintiff applied for and was granted study leave with pay in the 2011/2012 academic year, he failed to submit an acceptance letter from the school of his choice to the police administration, adding that “the offer then lapsed.”
DEFENCE ON AMNESTY
The court said the first defendant admitted the grant of amnesty promotion in the year 2021 to some officers of the Ghana Police Service.
This was “underpinned by a policy to absorb graduate junior-ranked officers who [had] not obtained the rank of Chief Inspector Maximum. The 1st defendant further asserted that the plaintiff had been granted amnesty promotion by an incremental jump from Chief Inspector Point One to the rank of Chief Inspector Maximum.”
However, the 1st defendant said that the promotion from Chief Inspector Maximum to Assistant Superintendent of Police and above is the preserve of the Police Council acting on the advice of the Appointments and Promotions Advisory Board.
