12,802 police officers promoted after years-long backlog
The Secretariat said the promotions were mainly administrative and special recommendation-based, and were done under the Police Service Regulations, 2012 (CI 76).
The Ghana Police Service says it has promoted 12,802 officers between January and the first week of February, clearing a backlog that, in some cases, dates back five to 10 years.
The update came from the IGP’s Secretariat after repeated media requests for details about the promotions, which covered ranks from Lance Corporal to Chief Inspector.
Earlier reports in parts of the media suggested the promotions were influenced by nepotism. The IGP’s Secretariat rejected that, saying the process followed the rules and involved commanders across the country.
According to the Secretariat, information was requested from units, districts, divisions and regional commands across all 25 police regions to submit names of officers due for promotion. It also stressed that promotions are not the sole decision of the IGP, pointing to the governing regulations.
The Secretariat said the promotions were mainly administrative and special recommendation-based, and were done under the Police Service Regulations, 2012 (CI 76).
It cited Regulation 37, which provides that promotion is based on:
promotion examinations
seniority and length of service
satisfactory conduct and performance assessments
or special recommendations for bravery, crime prevention or outstanding duty
Police said about 11,900 officers in the lower ranks were moved up one rank, while around 600 promotions were based on special recommendations.
The Secretariat also said it received several petitions from officers complaining of unfair treatment, including cases involving officers who had been on interdiction for more than five years but were later acquitted and discharged. It said those officers were subsequently promoted.
Other petitions involved officers whose promotion dates were wrongly recorded, delaying their progression. Police said those anomalies were corrected.
The Secretariat added that some families of officers who died in the line of duty also petitioned, and said the service granted posthumous promotions in those cases.
