The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Patrick Kwarteng Acheampong has not been fired; he is proceeding on leave prior to retirement. He is due for retirement on March 1 2009.
All public officers in Ghana, except a select few, are expected to retire compulsorily on the attainment of age 60 years; however, they can go on voluntary retirement at age 55 years. IGP Acheampong was born on March 25 1951.
Speaking at a press conference in Accra on Tuesday, the Outgoing IGP said he believed it was time for him to bid farewell after spending 33 years in the Police Service, thus dispelling media speculations that he had been fired by President John Evans Atta Mills.
In apparent reference to the media slant, IGP Acheampong said: "Certainly, new governments worldwide decide what to do with their institutions.. And I believe it is time for me to bid farewell after spending 33 years in the Service. In any case I am due for retirement on March 1st this year.
"I thank President Mills for the time and patience he has had to take stock and to decide what to do with State institutions. And I hope he would give support to the Service as he did when he was a one-time Chairman of the Police Council."
Mrs Elizabeth Mills Robertson, Deputy IGP, is to act in his absence.
Outgoing IGP Acheampong thanked personnel of the Service for their sacrificial work and the support they gave him during his tenure, and asked them to lend the same support to whoever the Government might appoint as the substantive IGP.
He said he had good working relations with Mrs Robertson and that he had every confidence that she could hold the fort because "she knows the direction and the path the Police Administration intends to go in modernising the institution and would not deviate from it. She knows the pros and cons of the Police and would not have any problems," he said.
Former President John Agyekum Kufuor appointed Mr Acheampong as the Inspector General of Police on March 25, 2005.