Police in makeshift structures-Audit

Frontpage.Aug 20, 2009
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
MORE than half of the about 23,000-member police service in the country live in makeshift structures.
A performance audit report on the management of police residential structures, which was considered by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament during its sitting yesterday, indicated that as of now, only 42 per cent of officers and men of the service were accommodated while the rest lived in stopgap structures.
These include those housed in canteens, open workshops and kitchens, while in some instances, other available spaces have been converted into residential units for the policemen and women.
Mr Cletus Avoka, the Minister of the Interior and the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Paul Tawiah Quaye, led a team of top-ranked policemen to answer queries raised by the Auditor-General in its performance report on the management of residential accommodation of the service submitted to Parliament.
According to the report, the police barracks were over-crowded due to inadequate residential accommodation for officers and men of the service.
The report indicated that the poor conditions of the existing structures at the barracks were likely to deteriorate with the planned increase in intake into the service.
Notwithstanding these problems, the report revealed that the service had a large number of uncompleted and abandoned buildings, with 80 per cent of the projects which were started in and around 1999 not completed as at the time of the compilation of the report in September, 2007.
According to the report, the police administration failed to properly plan and make adequate budgetary allocation for the uncompleted projects.
For instance, a three-storey building project that was started to house the police in Yendi in the Northern Region was abandoned after an amount of Gh¢13,713.41 or 21.3 per cent of the contract sum had been paid to two contractors.
Based on the report, members of the PAC, chaired by Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah, argued that the same contract was awarded to two contractors, who all abandoned the project after collecting their monies.
Responding to the issue, the Director-General of Finance of the Police Service, Assistant Commissioner of Police George Akwasi Akufo Dampare, explained that there were two projects that were abandoned by the contractors and not one as indicated in the report.
One other issue highlighted in the report and which engaged the attention of members of the committee was the lack of maintenance culture by police officers residing in rented premises.
The Director in-charge of Estate, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Joshua Copson explained that as per agreements between the various landlords, police officers residing in rented premises were only responsible for interior maintenance and not the maintenance of the exterior portions of the buildings.
His assertion was, however, rebuffed by members of the committee, who argued that the low rent paid to landlords, which were not even regular, would make it impossible for such landlords to maintain their buildings.
A sad story was told in the report about one Madam Mary Manu, whose residence in Begoro in the Eastern Region had been occupied by the police since it was constructed in 1970.
At the time of the initial occupancy, the rent for the 10-bedroom house was ¢30.00 (GH¢3.00) per year and that was maintained till the time of the audit in 2007, although the landlady was demanding Gh¢600.00 per year.
It was revealed through discussions with the lady that no maintenance had ever been carried out since the police occupied the house and with the dilapidated nature of the house, the police had been advised to evacuate because the building was unsafe for habitation.
Answering further questions, ACP Dampare said efforts were being made to complete some of the ongoing projects across the country to provide living accommodation for the police.
He cited the new police barracks in Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo Region and gave assurance that funds were being raised internally to ensure its completion by October, this year.
Mr Avoka stated that although the provision of accommodation for the police was the responsibility of the Ministry of the Interior, there was the need for the district assemblies and non-governmental organisations to assist in that respect.
He announced that the government was still discussing whether to raise the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) to 10 per cent so that the percentage increase could be used to fund security activities in such areas.
Mr Kan-Dapaah thanked the Audit Service for a very good work done and expressed the hope that the exercise would enable both the general public and the government to appreciate the accommodation problem facing the police.