ABSTRACT
Historically, little is known about policing in Africa and many people believe that it was European colonial administration that introduced the idea of policing to the continent. However, Ghana’s history reveals that prior to the colonial administration there were systems in place in the Ashanti kingdom that had their own police structures. e Ashanti Empire had road wardens, known as Akwansrafo, who were responsible for patrolling to enforce the laws guiding the jurisdiction of the kingdom, controlling the movement of travelers, collecting taxes, and defending the kingdom (Tankebe, 2008). ese men were mobilized to ‹ght the colonial administration in 1874 during the Sagrenti war. When the colonial administrators realized they were not able to withstand the forces from the Ashanti kingdom, they had to bring additional troops from the West Indies and 700 Hausa men from Nigeria for reinforcement. A¤er the war, in 1894, the colonial administration’s ‹ghting force was le¤ with only 400 men who were retained to serve the interest of the colonial masters. ese remnants constituted the Gold Coast Constabulary
Overview of Ghana Police Service 255 Materials and Methods 257 Results 259 Discussion 261 Conclusions 262 Recommendations 262 Acknowledgment 262 References 263 Further Readings 263
under the Gold Coast Police Ordinance (1897), which was promulgated to empower them to use “brute force” on the people while defending the British administration. ese men formed the Gold Coast Police Force. e size of the police force grew gradually from that time on. In 1970, Police Service Act 350(1) was passed that changed Ghana Police Force to Ghana Police Service.
