Threats to sack security officers after change of gov’t ‘brutum fulmen’ – IGP

James Oppong-Boanuh, the Inspector General of Police, has described threats from political parties to immediately sack police officers just because there is a change of power as “brutum fulmen”, Latin, meaning, an empty threat.

He explained that such unguarded statements from the politicians are all empty talk which do not hold any substance.

“If I am doing my professional duty, and you are elected into government, there is no right to sack me, but if I don’t do my work as expected of me, then you can have a problem with me,” the IGP told Kwami Sefa Kayi, the host of Peace FM’s Kokrokoo.

“I tell my colleagues that no politician can sack them if they are doing their professional duty,” he stressed. “People will hate you for doing what is right but that does not mean they can sack you.”

You can be a minister, or anybody, but you cannot interfere too much into the affairs of the police. If the person has not gone contrary to the law, you cannot punish him, it’ll not happen,” James Oppong-Boanuh noted.

He reminded politicians who are fond of making such utterances that any affected individuals could proceed to court on account of wrongful termination and be reinstated.

“Nobody should be afraid. Anybody who says that does not know how the security agencies work,” the IGP stressed.