A businesswoman, Henrietta Nana Yaa Simpson, has challenged the appointment of Commissioner of Police (Retired) Nathan Kofi Boakye as a member of the Ghana Police Council.
According to her, the Act establishing the Ghana Police Service and the Police Council specifically states that, the membership of the Police Council is 10.
The Act, according to her also goes ahead to name the 10 members as the Vice-President of Ghana who is the chair, the Minister for the Interior, the Inspector-General of Police, the Attorney-General or representative; a Lawyer nominated by the Ghana Bar Association; a representative of the Retired Senior Police Officers Association; a representative of the Senior Rank of the Police Service; a representative of the Junior Rank of the Police Service and two other members appointed by the President.
It is the representative of the Retired Senior Police Officers Association on the Council that Henrietta Nana Yaa Simpson has raised issues with arguing that COP (rtd) Nathan Kofi Boakye was not nominated by the association to represent them on the Council and that ACP (Rtd.) Florence Arthur, who is the duly elected president of the National Association of Retired Police Officers should be the one appointed to the Council in place of Kofi Boakye.
In a writ Henrietta Nana Yaa Simpson has filed at the Supreme Court, she is seeking the removal of COP (rtd) Nathan Kofi Boakye from the council since according to her, the Retired Senior Police Officers Association did not nominate him for that position and that the President "unilaterally" appointed him to the Council.
COP (rtd) Kofi Boakye is currently also serving as the Director of Operations at the Presidency.
In the writ filed on Monday, June 23, 2025, Henrietta Nana Yaa Simpson is asking the Supreme Court to declare that the appointment of Kofi Boakye to the Police Council was unconstitutional, null and void, and to order his removal.
She also wants the court to direct that ACP (rtd) Florence Arthur who is the duly elected president of the National Association of Retired Police Officers to be appointed to the Council in his stead.
The plaintiff is invoking the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court under Articles 2, 130, 17(1), 201 and 296 of the 1992 Constitution and Rule 45 of the Supreme Court Rules, 1996 (C.I. 16).
The suit lists three defendants: COP (Rtd.) Nathan Kofi Boakye as the 1st Defendant, the Police Council as the 2nd Defendant, and the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice as the 3rd Defendant.
According to the statement of case, Madam Simpson is seeking a number of declaratory reliefs centered on what she considers a breach of the Constitution in the appointment of COP (Rtd.) Boakye, who she claims was not nominated by the National Association of Retired Police Officers (NARPO), the body constitutionally mandated to nominate such representatives.
She contends that “upon a true and proper interpretation of clauses (f) and (g) of Article 201 as amended by section 7 of The Constitution of Ghana (Amendment) Act, 1996 (Act 527), and the relevant sections of the Police Service Act, 1970 (Act 350), particularly sections 10 and 39 thereof,” the phrase “retired senior police officers” should be construed to include all officers who retired not below the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police.
She further argues that ACP (Rtd.) Florence Arthur qualifies as a “retired senior police officer” under the law and is thus eligible to serve on the Police Council.
She further avers that “it is the members of the National Association of Retired Police Officers who, through their legitimately elected executive members under the leadership of their President, have the sole and exclusive right and authority to nominate a senior retired officer of their number onto the Police Council.”
Madam Simpson insists that the unilateral appointment of COP (Rtd.) Nathan Kofi Boakye by the President of the Republic constitutes a violation of Article 201(f), arguing that the President’s power of nomination is limited to specific clauses of Article 201, namely (a), (g) and (h) and does not extend to clause (f), which deals with the representative of retired senior police officers.
She is also challenging the exclusion of ACP (Rtd.) Florence Arthur, attributing her non-inclusion to alleged gender discrimination.
Madam Simpson is therefore seeking a declaration that ACP (Rtd.) Florence Arthur qualifies as a retired senior police officer and that only NARPO has the authority to nominate a retired senior officer to the Council; that the President’s refusal to accept the nominee of NARPO is unconstitutional; and that the gender-based exclusion of ACP (Rtd.) Arthur is discriminatory.
She is further asking the court to issue an order for the removal of COP (Rtd.) Nathan Kofi Boakye from the Council, and the inclusion of ACP (Rtd.) Florence Arthur in his stead, along with any other reliefs the Court may deem just and proper.
Attached below is a copy of the writ
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