Police Service to address poor retirement conditions of officers

The Police administration through the Welfare Department is embarking on sensitization workshops to address retirement challenges police officers encounter after exiting the service.

Many police officers retire poorly due to improper pension plans resulting in depression, drunkenness, and in some cases suicide.

To address these challenges, the Police administration through the Welfare, Counselling, Public Health and Payroll Departments and units are jointly embarking on a nationwide exercise to address these retirement challenges.

Speaking to the media at the sidelines of the sensitization workshop for Police officers in Eastern Region on pension, the Director In Charge of Public Health in Ghana Police Service DCOP Dr. Otu Nyarko said, the Inspector General of Police is deeply concerned about the poor living conditions of some of the retired police officers hence the administration has diagnosed the problem and has come out with interventions to address the challenges through education on proper pension planning and modalities to the CAP30 pension scheme.

“The IGP has realized that most of the time the living conditions of some police officers during their retirement period is very bad due to lack of proper planning of their pension schemes into the future, therefore he deems it fit to form a team consisting of pensions, payroll, public health and welfare Personnel to go round the country to educate all police personnel on the pension scheme and the need to plan for the future,” DCOP Otu-Nyatko said.

He added, “even though the pension act as we all know is already in existence but because there is no specific programs to regularly educate these police personnel, most of them pay little attention to their pension scheme”.

The Director of the Counselling Unit of Ghana Police Service ACP Dr Philis Osei said the exercise is to educate Police officers, particularly those nearing retirement to know the processes to go through to get their gratuities and other retirement packages without delay.

She said the team has observed high expectations by many officers when entering the service, therefore, becoming disappointed when nearing retirement.

“The unit was established last year and we have had stories and narrations which go to confirm that there is an urgent need for us to do something for people who are about to exit. Some people exit on a very positive note, but for others, it hits them by surprise. So as an institution, the Inspector General of Police and the police administration thought it wise for the welfare department should come out with strategies so that we can reduce that burden on personnel even their nomination forms, the system that they need to put in place prior to retirement.

Some people don’t even know what to expect. So we are here to let personnel know what to do during and even before they exit. What are the administrative things they have to put in order so that when they exit their gratuity will not delay, their settlement will not delay” ACP Philis Osei told Starr News?

The Eastern Regional Police Commander, DCOP Mr Anderson Fosu-Ackaah said, the workshop is opening up the realities of retirement to the police officers to enable them to plan well to prevent disappointment after retirement.

Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh