Flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Mahama has reiterated claims of vote-buying perpetrated by government among the Ghana Police Service.
According to him, the justifications provided by the police hierarchy regarding the accusation leaves much to be desired.
During a campaign tour in the Tamale North Constituency over the weekend, Mr Mahama indicated that; “I just learnt from a group of police officers that they’ve paid money into their accounts, all of them, all police officers.”
He suspected that the development was geared towards influencing the security personnel's decision in the presidential and parliamentary elections.
But the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), James Oppong-Boanuh debunked the assertions in a justification to the Ghana News Agency (GNA).
The IGP told GNA that the monies given to the officers were their election duty allowances which hitherto were paid after the officers have finished their election assignment, which sometimes affects the morale of these officers in the performance of this special national duty.
However, in an interview with JoyNews, Mr Mahama is not backing down on his claims.
He believes the police chief is being economical with the truth because "I [Mahama] work with police officers and I have relatives in the police service"
The Former President opined that he is very aware of the election duty allowance which is conventional but insists that a separate amount was paid into the officers' accounts for a reason he is yet to comprehend.
"The ¢600 is their duty allowance and I know that but monies were paid into their accounts... Aside from what the IGP talked about as their duty allowance, monies were paid into people's accounts," he told Emefa Apawu.
He further added that "I'm not saying its a bad thing, but I'm saying that if the purpose is to influence them, then it's inappropriate, and I don't think it will buy their conscience."
John Mahama called on government to rather channel its energies towards retooling the force to boost their morale.
"We go more for raising their confidence and respect in the eyes of the public, giving them the logistics to do their work," he added.
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