The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Dr George Akuffo Dampare, will today appear before Parliament’s Committee investigating the alleged plot by three top police officers, to remove the IGP from office.
The alleged plot was captured in a leaked audio tape, recorded by a former regional chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Chief Buguri Naabu.
The three officers – COP George Alex Mensah, Superintendent (Supt) George Asare and Supt Emmanuel Gyebi and their lawyers, and Chief Naabu, would also appear before the seven-member ad-hoc committee.
The three top officers and Chief Naabu have already testified before the committee, with COP Mensah and Supt Asare accusing the IGP of mismanaging the Ghana Police Service.
“On Tuesday, all the individuals (Chief Daniel Bugri Naabu, Supt. George L. Asare, (COP) George Alex Mensah, and Supt. Emmanuel Eric Gyebi) … will come back with their lawyers, Chairman of the Committee, Samuel Atta Akyea said on JoyNews ‘The Probe,’.
“Also, the most prominent person whose name has been bandied about, the IGP himself should also come with his lawyers.”
He clarified that the hearing would be done in-camera, explaining that there were issues in the hearing that needed to be prevented from coming out in the public to protect national security.
“Some serious allegations have been made in public, but the substance of the allegations has not been made in public. That is to say, the evidential support for those allegations is what we are going to unearth, so which piece of evidence that we’ll give to the public that will not hurt national security, we’ll exercise that discretion,” he added.
Furthermore, the Chairman of the Committee clarified that the forum was not being held with the intention of appointing an IGP, nor did the Committee have a malicious intention to ruin his reputation.
Rather, he reiterated that the Committee will not allow for “the IGP to be disgraced and insulted without giving him a hearing.”
Mr Akyea also emphasised that allowing the IGP an opportunity to clear his name is the democratic way to address the issue at hand.