A Commissioner of Police (COP) Patrick Akolgo, a former Director General of the National Patrol Department of the Ghana Police Service has recounted how he was christened the Frafra Policeman who does not take bribes.
According to him, asking to be bribed or accepting same in public office to influence one’s work come along with repercussions including a blockage from receiving blessings from God.
Speaking in an interview on Dreamz Fm monitored by Ashantibiz, the retired Police Commissioner and astute business man recounted his days as a District Superintendent of Police leading a task force operation in Agona Swedru in 2001 where he arrested an Assemblyman and Prince for possession of ‘wee’.
He narrated that while preparing the matter for action, he was offered an amount of 30 million cedis which he declined. This act and several other failed attempts to bribe him won him a public description by the residents of Agona Swedru as the Frafra Policeman who does not accept bribes.
“In Swedru I was literally called the Policeman who doesn’t take bribes. When they are sitting on radio and discussing in Fante they used to say that Policeman Akolgo, the man who doesn’t take bribe. So built integrity and people came to me with lots of information. They gave me lots of intelligence,” he said.
Having joined the service in 1992, COP Patrick Akolgo noted that in his over 3 decades of serving as an officer of the law enforcement institution, he has never accepted bribe.
“In my 30 or so years in the Ghana Police Service, I have never taken a bribe from anybody for doing anything. I have never taken a bribe. Fortunately at the time I was joining the police service, I was an average person. I went into the service driving my own car. By the grace of God my instructors when I joined the police service were asking me what I was coming to do in the police service. I was using a BMW 5 Series because I was buying and selling so I used to keep the nice one and drive for a month before I sell. God blessed me in a way and that’s one of the reasons,” he added.
The astute businessman however disclosed that following his continuous support to hundreds of people in various ways including recruitment into the service, he has often been appreciated with gifts which sometimes come several months or years after rendering the support. This he has described as completely distinct from taking or requesting for some inducement to influence a decision or support.
He said “The problem we sometimes have is about the mind. Why do you expect someone to come and give you money to influence you to do what you are supposed to do? I can look into your eyes and say I have never taken a bribe but that is not the same as saying that I have never taken a gift. They are two different things. I have never said I’ve not taken a gift from anybody. Ghanaians by nature love and always want to show appreciation. You do something for someone and he never forgets. The person will come back to appreciate you. I keep telling people that do your work and do it well and people will follow you after one or two years to show appreciation. I won’t call that bribe. If I was to look at the numbers that I’ve been able to help by God’s grace and said go and bring this or that, this blessing we are receiving would never come to you”.
Ashantibiz
