A Ghanaian businesswoman, Henrietta Nana Yaa Simpson, has filed a suit at the Supreme Court challenging the appointment of Commissioner of Police (Retired) Nathan Kofi Boakye as a member of the Ghana Police Council.
Madam Simpson contends that the appointment is unconstitutional, arguing that the Retired Senior Police Officers Association did not nominate Mr. Boakye as required by law, and that the President acted unilaterally.
According to her, the Act establishing the Police Service and Council clearly states that the Council should have 10 members: the Vice-President as chair, the Minister for the Interior, the Inspector-General of Police, the Attorney-General or a representative, a lawyer nominated by the Ghana Bar Association, a representative of the Retired Senior Police Officers Association, representatives from both the Senior and Junior ranks of the Police Service, and two members appointed by the President.
In the writ filed on Monday, June 23, 2025, Madam Simpson is asking the Supreme Court to declare Mr. Boakye’s appointment unconstitutional, null and void, and to order his removal from the Council.
She maintains that ACP (Rtd.) Florence Arthur, the elected President of the National Association of Retired Police Officers (NARPO), is the rightful nominee to represent retired senior police officers on the Council.
Madam Simpson 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 three defendants in the suit are: COP (Rtd.) Nathan Kofi Boakye (1st Defendant), the Police Council (2nd Defendant), and the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice (3rd Defendant).
In her statement of case, she argues that the nomination of a representative from retired officers is exclusively the prerogative of the legitimately elected leadership of NARPO. She insists that the President has no authority under Article 201(f) to make such an appointment independently.
“The members of the National Association of Retired Police Officers, through their legitimately elected executive members, have the sole and exclusive right to nominate a senior retired officer of their number onto the Police Council,” she stated.
Madam Simpson further contends that ACP (Rtd.) Florence Arthur qualifies as a “retired senior police officer” and that her exclusion from the Council is both unconstitutional and discriminatory.
“The prescriptive removal of ACP (Rtd.) Florence Arthur from the composition of the Police Council on the basis of her rank and gender is discriminatory and flies in the face of Article 17 of the Constitution,” she argued.
She is therefore seeking a declaration that only NARPO has the authority to nominate a retired senior police officer to the Council, that ACP (Rtd.) Florence Arthur qualifies to serve in that role, and that the President’s refusal to accept her nomination is unconstitutional.
Additionally, she is asking the court to order the removal of COP (Rtd.) Nathan Kofi Boakye and to install ACP (Rtd.) Florence Arthur in his place, along with any further reliefs the Court may deem appropriate.
