...as stakeholders disagree on location of Police Complaints Commission

The Ghana Police Service did not attend a multi-stakeholder round-table discussion on the Independent Police Complaint Commission (IPCC) that they had proposed earlier this year, despite Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Ahmed Alhassan previously agreeing to send a representative.

But the stakeholders present could not agree on whether the IPCC should be located at the Ministry of the Interior or Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ). While some submitted that when the IPCC is located at the Ministry, its independence and impartiality would be compromised. Others contended that CHRAJ was over-burdened with its triple mandate of human rights, anti-corruption and administrative justice; as well as being under-resourced, to take up an additional task of housing and managing the IPCC.

Yet some stakeholders recommended that- for lack of resources to have a nation-wide reach, the IPCC should be co-housed at the Ministry and CHRAJ since ballistic and security experts at the Ministry would be required by the commission, and CHRAJ too can handle the human rights aspect with its offices in nearly all the districts.

Held in Accra, the round-table was on the theme 'An Effective Independent Civilian Policing Oversight: Too Important to Neglect, Too Urgent to Delay.' It was chaired and moderated by Professor Emmanuel Gyimah-Boadi, Executive Director of Centre for Democratic Development (CDD) Ghana. The stakeholders who attended the round-table include Deputy Interior Minister James Agalga, members of the Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Interior, representatives of the Ministry of Justice, Attorney-General's Department, Judiciary Service, CHRAJ, Police Council, National Commission on Civic Education, Legal Aid Board and Ghana Bar Association (GBA).

The other participants were from the Independent Police Complaint Commission Coalition (IPOCOCO), which is made up of civil society organisations such as Amnesty International Ghana, Human Rights Advocacy Centre, Legal Resources Centre, HelpLaw Ghana, CDD Ghana, Bureau for Public Safety and POS Foundation. The private sector was also represented.

Accepting the shortcomings and public criticisms of the Police Intelligence and Professional Standards Bureau (PIPS), on March 18 at an event meant to ensure public confidence in the police, IGP Alhassan announced that the police administration had “presented a paper to the Ministry of Interior for the establishment of an Independent Police Complaint Commission Ghana which shall be a Civilian Oversight body within the Ministry of Interior -to assist in addressing police indiscipline and accountability.”

Explaining the absence of the police, Ms. Mina Mensah, Regional Co-ordinator of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) Africa Office, stated that the CHRI and IPOCOCO had sent an invitation letter to the IGP who assured them that the police would attend the round-table. But a day before the event, Ms. Mensah said the police called her and informed her that they would not be able to come to the round-table, without offering any cogent reason. She stressed that the IPCC should have “a clear mandate” and “be completely independent of the Executive.”

The absence of the police compelled Hon. Cletus Avoka, a member of the Committee on Defence and Interior, to regret the non-attendance of the police with this remark: “I wish they were here to state their views because they are key stakeholders.” Hon. Avoka surmised that the police did not make it to the round-table because the Deputy Interior Minister's “presence might dwarf the IGP's representative.”

Hon. Avoka, who is a former Minister for the Interior, questioned the independence of the IPCC, arguing that there was no constitutional basis for the IPCC. He said care should be taken not to create conflict between the police and CHRAJ- which currently has the mandate to do the work of the proposed commission. He called for adequate consultation with stakeholders so that the law that would set up the IPCC would be fully enforceable.

But Prof. Ken Agyeman Attafuah, the Dean of the Faculty of Law at Central University College, countered the constitutionality of the IPCC as a “non-issue.” Prof. Attafuah also disagreed on the conflict of mandates between CHRAJ and the IPCC, saying that cognitive and territorial conflict could be avoided and clarified as it happened with CHRAJ and the Serious Fraud office, which was later transformed into the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO).

He noted that the proposed transitory arrangement should have a time limit as the IPCC was “long overdue.” He proposed a three-year period for the IPCC, and underscored the need to design a roadmap for the IPCC, which could adopt the sole commissioner or experts group models.

Hon. Agalga said the police had suggested that the IPCC should be temporarily located at the Interior Ministry, adding that the commission was proposed because of the inability of PIPS to live up to expectation. He added that the police initially wanted the IPCC to be sited outside of the Ministry but due to resource constraints, they proposed that it be at the Ministry temporarily. “It is an interim measure while we look at the necessary legislation to be put in place. We will put in place the necessary checks against police brutality. We are not going to leave no stone unturned in setting up the commission,” he said.

Hon. Agalga pointed out that though the police did not want to be seen as usurping the mandate of CHRAJ, he believed CHRAJ was not effective in performing the work that the IPCC was to do. “The very broad mandate of CHRAJ makes it difficult for it to host the commission.”

A Deputy Director at CHRAJ, Mr. Isaac Annan, who represented Mr. Joseph Whittal, a Deputy CHRAJ Commissioner, rendered a comprehensive presentation on police complaints commissions in England, Kenya, South Africa and other countries, arguing that CHRAJ was already performing the functions of the proposed IPCC. When it was suggested that IPCC could be an appendage of CHRAJ, Mr. Annan agreed and observed that the Ghana AIDS Commission and CHRAJ collaborated to set up a Health Rights Desk at CHRAJ, which was effective.