By Michael Boateng, Yeji | Posted: Monday, July 20, 2009
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| Hon. Masawud Mohammed-DCE, Pru (left), Mr. Paul Tawiah Quaye, IGP (right) |
But in a sharp rebuttal, the police boss said he is a decent public officer who would not engage in such dirty dealings, bearing in mind that the integrity of the police service must always be protected.
The DCE, Masawud Mohamed told The Chronicle in an interview at his office that following a report made by the Presiding Member (PM) of the Pru District Assembly, Mr. Wisdom Kwasi Zor that the District Commander took GH¢50 from him before granting bail to the headmaster of Baasare Primary School, Mr. Ahmed Issah, who is also the Odikro of the Kofi Baasare Community, he quickly called the DSP on phone to refund the said amount.
Hon. Masawud Mohamed added that the action of the District Police commander has been a source of worry to the district, adding that the public would be the best judge on his character, since some of his dealings and actions posed a threat to the security of the district. “You would not believe that the police service in the Pru district is divided along political lines due to the actions of the commander, which you can verify for yourself”, the DCE said.
He urged this Reporter to contact the Presiding Member for confirmation on the alleged bribe taken by the District Police commander, which he had ordered the commander to refund.
When contacted, the Presiding Member, Mr. Wisdom Zor confirmed that DSP Donkor took an amount of GH¢50.00 from him before granting bail to the head teacher of Baasare Primary school, near Prang.
According to the PM, he personally did not give the money to the District Police commander, but rather gave it to an Assembly member, Mr. Simon Donkor, who was on that day elected as the new chairman for the Justice and Security sub-committee at the Assembly, to be given to the DSP.
Mr. Zor revealed that he was requesting for the bail of Ahmed Issah because he had just been discharged from the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital after sustaining injuries in a motor accident, and was still nursing his wounds.
The detail of the case was that Ahmed Issah and four other persons ‘arrested’ a stray pig, since the by-laws of the community was against stray animals which destroy people’s items.
The Odikro and the four accomplices were arrested by the police at Prang, after the owner of the pig reported the matter to the police. Mr. Zor added that the situation of the Odikro was very pathetic, so he (Mr. Wisdom Zor), together with some Assembly members decided to intervene to seek bail for the five.
However, the attempt to seek bail for the five persons was not granted by the Commander, who requested them to go and consult the ‘old lady’ and come back, which according to him literally means that the commander was demanding money before the release of the five persons.
Mr. Zor said he gave an amount of GH¢20.00 to Mr. Simon Donkor, the newly elected Chairman of the Justice and Security Sub-Committee of the Assembly to be given to the Police Commander.
Mr. Simon Donkor, according to the Presiding Member, decided to use the opportunity to officially introduce himself to the District Police Commander, but the commander rejected the money, insisting that it was too small an amoumt, and therefore Mr. Simon Donkor would find it difficult to work with him as the Justice and Security Sub-committee chairman.
The District Police Commander refused to grant the five persons bail, so they slept overnight at the cells with four of them still in handcuffs.
The next day, an amount of GHc30.00 was added to make the total amount GHc50.00, which was given to the Commander for the release of only the Odikro, with the Commander demanding surety for the remaining four persons.
“The action of the commander infuriated me the more, so I left the place to inform the District Chief Executive about the actions of the Commander, and he also quickly ordered the Commander on phone to refund the money”, Mr. Zor said.
Meanwhile, the Police boss told The Chronicle that “the DCE indeed called me and demanded a refund of the money, but because I do not know anything about the said money I do not know what and who to refund to”.
The police boss rebutted the allegations, saying “I am a decent public officer who would not engage in such dirty dealings, bearing in mind that the integrity of the police service must always be protected”.
According to DSP Donkor, he was the one handling the case, and to the best of his knowledge the complainant of the case agreed with the parties involved to settle the matter out of court, and his outfit is just waiting for the outcome of the settlement.
“I don’t know why the DCE and the Presiding Member are trying to victimize me with such wild allegations, to defame my reputation, I have nothing to tell them but I leave them to God”, DSP Donkor said.
The District Commander stressed that if the DCE and the PM think they can not tolerate his presence in the district, they should use the appropriate means, instead of resorting to false and malicious allegations.
It is a known fact that incidences of such nature are pervasive in the Police service and among police officers, which needs to be checked and uprooted by the Police Council and the Government.
‘Officers are in the frontline of combating crime of all complexities which at times involves putting their lives on the line.
They should be considered by the Government and rewarded appropriately, otherwise we can talk and lash at them but it would not yield any result’, noted Kofi Coomson, in a telephone conversation with the reporters who followed the story.
Source:Chronicle
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