The Supreme Court has halted the promotion of 40 police officers by granting a stay of execution of a Court of Appeal judgment in favour of the officers who had sued the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Christian Tetteh Yohuno, over their exclusion from a special promotion programme.
The dispute stems from a 2021 amnesty granted by the Police Management Board, which made police officers enlisted between December 2008 and 2020 and who had obtained first degrees eligible for promotion.
The 40 officers, who were seeking promotion from Chief Inspector to Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), argued that they had been unfairly excluded from the programme despite other officers, including some junior to them, benefiting from the exercise.
Dissatisfied with their exclusion, the officers instituted legal action against the IGP and the Police Management Board at the High Court in Kumasi, seeking an order compelling the police authorities to promote them.
The High Court, however, dismissed the case, prompting the officers to appeal the decision.
The Court of Appeal subsequently overturned the High Court’s ruling and ordered the police authorities to effect the promotions.
In response, the IGP appealed to the Supreme Court, challenging the appellate court’s decision, and applied for a stay of execution to prevent the implementation of the promotion order while the appeal remains pending.
A five-member panel of the Supreme Court, presided over by Justice Gabriel Scott Pwamang, granted the application, effectively suspending the Court of Appeal’s order for the time being.
In granting the stay, the court considered that the affected officers could be compensated if the IGP’s appeal ultimately failed.
