Call it bail for sale. You will be spot on. In the midst of all the present concerns about the integrity of the security system, we are witnessing crime in the crime office. Corruption Watch (CW) has caught police officers taking money in order to grant bail.
This is happening in spite of the clear position of the law on bail as stated in Article 14(4) of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana and Section 96 (1-6) of the Criminal Procedure Act (1960).
In addition, the Ghana Police Service has repeatedly stressed that police enquiry bail is free.
CW investigations uncovered multiple cases in which some officers of the Ghana Police Service extorted money from suspects in their custody in return for bail.
CW conducted the investigations, which involved undercover operations like embedding CW investigators with families and friends of suspects, in randomly selected police stations in three different regions – the Greater Accra, Central, and Ashanti regions.
CW guaranteed the protection of the identity of most suspects, since their cases were yet to be closed, and therefore gave confidentiality to some of the specific cases followed.
Cash for bail
In the specific matter of cash for bail, police officers were captured demanding or receiving cash rewards between GH¢50.00 and GH¢1,000.00.
The means of taking the money in some police stations come under the pretext of a charge for bail; others induce the relatives into giving bribes or facilitation fees for their relatives to be released while some delay the process to make the families believe that they are stressing and risking a lot to get their relatives released. In the end, this induces the dishing out of money as a form of appreciation.
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Source: OccupyGh.com
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