A Sergeant of the Ghana Police Service has claimed in a sworn court document that the Deputy Inspector-General of Police Mr Christian Tetteh Yohuno directed him and 10 other policemen to defy orders of the Police administration.
Sgt David Ojeyim, in a lawsuit filed at the High Court for an Order of Judicial Review claimed that his refusal to obey a Police Signal (Directive) was at the direct instruction of the Deputy Inspector General of Police.
He stated in Paragraph 18 of his sworn testimony that “Since the team enlisted for the assignment was at the direction and instruction of the deputy IGP, we informed him on October 2 2024 on the transfer signal wherefore he directed us not to comply with same.
“He further directed us to make entry into the station diary which we complied,” portions of the suit at the high court said.
Sgt Ojeyim, a member of the Police Intelligence Directorate (PID) claims in his deposition before the court that he and 11 others were recruited by one ASP Alhaji Jalil Bawa an officer of the Motor Transport and Traffic Directorate (MTTD), on the instructions of the Mr Yohuno for “Intelligence Gathering” that they called “Operation D-Day”.
Even though ASP Jalil Bawa of MTTD is not a member of the PID and ought not have any such authority to instruct let alone recruit Sgt Ojeyim and the others, they followed his instructions nonetheless.
It was in the course of operationalizing the Yohuno taskforce, including setting up a whatsapp group dubbed “Operation D-Day” that he received instructions from the Police Administration that he had been transferred out of Accra; together with several members of the gang.
At this point, Ojeyim states “Since the team enlisted for the assignment was at the direction and instruction of the Deputy Inspector General of Police, we informed him on October 2, 2024 of the transfer signal wherefore he directed us not to comply with same as it was dubious and without any justification.”
In a security institution where the refusal to obey instructions is deemed a mutiny, the claim that the second most senior officer of the service, the Deputy Inspector-General of Police no less, directed junior officers to act in such a manner raises serious concerns about discipline within the service. Mutiny is the most serious disciplinary crime in security services.
The entire system of security is built on “Command and Control”; if the leadership is unable to control the juniors then you know there is a big problem. When those juniors claim in sworn statements that the DIGP directed them to do that, then it is clear that there is a breakdown in discipline within the rank.
The officers who refused the transfer order have since been interdicted pending a service inquiry. But with them filing the suit at the High Court for Judicial Review, the court process will have to end before Police disciplinary action, if any, can be instituted.
It is however unclear what the fate of Deputy IGP Christian Yohuno would be once the testimony is actually adopted in court.
KA
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