The Supreme Court has stayed the execution of a Court of Appeal judgment ordering the promotion of 40 police officers who sued the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Christian Tetteh Yohuno, over their exclusion from a promotion programme.
The order suspends the implementation of the Court of Appeal’s ruling pending the determination of the appeal before the Supreme Court.
The Court of Appeal had overturned an earlier High Court decision dismissing the officers’ case and directed the police authorities to effect their promotions.
The dispute centres on an amnesty granted by the Police Management Board in 2021, which made officers enlisted between December 2008 and 2020 and holding first degrees eligible for promotion.
The 40 officers argued that they were unfairly excluded from the programme, despite some of their colleagues, including officers junior to them, benefiting from the arrangement.
They sought promotion from the rank of Chief Inspector to Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP).
The officers also cited promotions granted to other personnel, including those from Corporal to Sergeant, Sergeant to Inspector, and Inspector to Chief Inspector, as evidence of what they considered unequal treatment.
Dissatisfied with their exclusion, the officers sued the IGP and the Police Management Board at the High Court in Kumasi, seeking an order compelling the police authorities to promote them.
However, the High Court dismissed their case, prompting them to appeal the decision.
The Court of Appeal subsequently ruled in their favour, overturning the High Court’s judgment and directing the police authorities to effect the promotions.
The latest Supreme Court order temporarily halts the implementation of the appellate court’s decision while the legal challenge proceeds.
The officers’ promotion dispute will remain subject to the Supreme Court’s determination of the appeal.
