Strengthening the capacities of the police in Ghana
Project description
Title: Strengthening the capacities of police structures in Africa – Ghana
Commissioned by: German Federal Foreign Office (AA)
Country: Ghana
Lead executing agency: Ghana Police Service
Overall term: 2009 to 2010
Context
Violent political conflicts and military aggression are hindering development in many African countries. The capacities and structures needed to settle disputes and keep the peace are not yet fully in place. There is also a lack of professionally trained, well-prepared police officers who can be deployed on United Nations (UN) and African Union (AU) peacekeeping operations.
Ghanaian police officers have participated in UN peacekeeping missions worldwide for over 60 years. However, poor language skills, insufficient driving experience and inadequate preparation for deployment have produced unsatisfactory results.
Objective
The performance of Ghanaian police officers in peacekeeping missions is strengthened.
Approach
GIZ is carrying out a programme on behalf of the German Federal Foreign Office (AA) to strengthen the capacities of police structures in Africa. This programme is active in several African countries, including Ghana. It strengthens police forces and police institutions through measures to provide training, infrastructure and equipment and also develops management capacities.
In Ghana, GIZ’s activities focused on training measures and the development of existing training courses and quality control systems for pre-SAT (Selection Assistance Team) courses and SAT exams to prepare officers for deployment in peacekeeping missions. In addition to these measures, the project helped to renovate police academies and provide equipment.
Results achieved so far
Training provided to police instructors has improved the general level of training in the police force. More than 40 new police instructors have been trained since 2009. The project also helped to renovate the drivers’ training classroom at the Police Training School in Kumasi, supplied the teaching material needed to conduct pre-SAT training courses and provided five vehicles for practical driving training. This has improved the learning environment and the quality of training and will increase the performance of those participating in SAT training courses in the long term.
Over 1,000 Ghanaian police officers have been trained in preparation for their deployment in peacekeeping operations. These trained officers are now ready to be sent on peacekeeping missions in accordance with international standards. Recently published SAT results show that the success rate of participants has almost doubled.