About 85 police officers have petitioned the Police Council over delays in their promotions.
The petitioners are seeking “academic promotion” due to their attainment of higher academic degrees after being granted study leave by the Police Administration.
In a petition signed by their lawyer, Ayikoi Otoo, the police officers said all attempts to impress on the police administration to enrol them in the Police Staff College to create a path for their “academic promotion” had not been successful.
According to the petition, it had become a norm in the police service that officers who were officially granted study leave were given “academic promotions” by being enrolled in the Police Staff College.
“I hereby present this petition on behalf of the petitioners who are humbly praying that the police administration opens the doors to the petitioners to enable them to enjoy the fruits of their labour by allowing them to enter the Police College,” the petition said.
Discretion
The petition said the Police Administration had always exercised its discretion to allow officers granted study leave to be granted academic promotions.
In that regard, the petitioners contend that not exercising its discretion this time around in its favour, would amount to “arbitrariness, capriciousness or bias either by resentment, prejudice or personal dislike towards the petitioners”.
They added: “It has never happened that graduates who enjoyed study leave with pay were denied opportunity of academic promotions.
“That being the case, it can be deduced that the Police Administration has acquiesced and had allowed all graduates to proceed to the Police College in accordance with exercise of their discretion”.
Study leave
The petition explained that the Police Administration granted the affected police officers study leave with pay in the 2017 /2018 academic year, and the officers signed the required five year bond.
According to the petition, upon completion of their various courses of study, the officers wrote to the Police Administration to upgrade them through “academic promotion.”
“In response , they were all congratulated on their achievements but the administration remained silent on their promotions except that those qualified for administrative promotions not academic promotions,’ the petition said.
Regulation
The petitioners said they were not oblivious of Regulation 37(7) of C.I of the Police Service Regulations, 2012 (C.I 76), which stipulates that “an officer who attains higher academic qualification is not entitled to promotion by reason only of that academic qualification”.
“I wish to submit on behalf of your petitioners that looking at regulation 37(7) of C.I.76, it vests the Police Administration with a discretion just as when it was contained in the Policy Guidelines and requires a broad liberal and purposive interpretation so as to take into consideration the history of the provision and the goal of the Police Administration in awarding Study Leave with Pay to successful candidates for the benefit of the Service,’ the petition added.
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