Police chief featured in ‘Cash for Justice’ investigation promoted

A police commander has been elevated after he refused a bribe from some bond negotiators and was persecuted after criticizing a senior state attorney for allegedly collecting bribes to protect accused people from the trial.

Chief Superintendent Samuel Tibil Punobyin, who was the Bolgatanga Divisional Police Commander at the time, rejected a bribe offered in dollars by negotiators in the Upper East Region, according to an investigative documentary film produced by a journalist with Accra-based Starr FM Edward Aditi in 2019.

The commander got into difficulty after asserting without evidence that the senior state attorney, Emmanuel Lawrence Otoo-Boison, was twisting the law for personal advantage, according to the film.

Several other people in the area had also complained about the senior state attorney's behavior, as depicted in the film.

Even though the international award-winning documentary was made to bring attention to some injustices in Ghana's justice system and to help restore public trust in the system, the investigative findings in the film exonerated Punobyin and other concerned residents, as Otoo-Boison was implicated in the fact-finding piece.

In the footage, Otoo-Boison is seen requesting a pregnant goat, collecting cash, and then wanting additional cash from a putative family of an accused individual whom he was prosecuting for alleged rape before a High Court in Bolgatanga.

The accused person, who was already on the International Criminal Police Organisation's (INTERPOL) wanted list for certain crimes he committed in Burkina Faso, was also instructed by the senior state attorney to go into hiding as soon as he was granted court release.

After the investigative piece aired and was published, the authorities arrested and fired Otoo-Boison.

Justice Jones Dotse, a Supreme Court justice, oversaw a committee that recommended his dismissal.

C/Supt Punobyin was praised by several famous personalities for his bravery and professionalism, including renowned security analyst Dr. Adam Bonaa, who said the senior police officer deserved promotion.

His promotion did not happen right away. He was assigned to lead the Axim Divisional Police Command in the Western Region.

He was then promoted to Assistant Commissioner of Police after serving as the Director of the Economic Crime Unit at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Headquarters in Accra (ACP).