The police administration has interdicted three senior police officers caught on a leaked tape plotting the removal of the Inspector General of Police, Dr. George Akuffo Dampare.
The affected officers are the former Director General (Technical) of the Ghana Police Service, COP George Alex Mensah, Superintendent Emmanuel Eric Gyebi and Superintendent George Lysander Asare.
A press statement issued by the police said the interdiction is “in connection with the audio tape which has become a subject matter of investigation by Parliament”.
The statement signed by Assistant Commissioner of Police, Director, Public Affairs, Grace Ansah-Akrofi said, “The interdiction is to make way for disciplinary proceedings into their conduct in line with Police Service regulations”.
The three police officers have been asked to hand over their guns and other accoutrements.
“Worst IGP”
Meanwhile the former director general (technical) of the Ghana Police Service, COP George Alex Mensah, has said the current national police chief IGP George Akuffo Dampare is the “worst ever” since he joined the service in the past 31 years.
“Honourable member and honourable chair,… what I said yesterday if you give me the chance today, I will say it again. For me, for the 31 years I have been in the service, he is the worst IGP we ever have in this country,” COP Mensah said in his second appearance before a parliamentary committee probing a leaked tape over alleged plot to remove Dampare from office.
According to him, he has told IGP Dampare about his observation on “several occasions.”
Low morale
On Thursday(31 August), when he made his maiden appearance before the Atta Akyea-led committee, COP Mensah said morale is low within the police service now because most of the personnel are unhappy with the management style of Dampare.
He said although IGP Dampare is a poor manager, he is not plotting to get him out of office.
“Dampare is not managing the police service well and the majority of police officers are not happy,” COP Mensah told the committee members. “You can call the police officers underground and they will tell you.”
“The tape that I heard today, there are so many things in that tape that I don’t remember and there are so many things that we discussed that are not on the tape. I’ve met Bugri Naabu four times and we have discussed many things some of them private things that I am not ready to discuss in public
“I had a meeting with Bugri Naabu but I don’t remember having any plan to remove the IGP because I don’t remove IGPs,” COP Mensah said.
Tape is authentic
When he took his turn before the committee on Monday, the former Northern regional chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Daniel Bugri Naabu revealed that he did the recording of the leaked tape.
The Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, set up a committee for a thorough forensic audit to be carried out to unravel those behind the tape.
Naabu confirmed that the conversation took place between himself and three other police officers in his office near the Osu Police Station.
He identified the voices on the tape as commander Asare, COP Mensah and Superintendent Gyebi. He told the ad-hoc committee of Parliament that the officers hatched the plot to remove the national police chief because they claim his actions were not in favour of the governing NPP and could cause the defeat of the party in the 2024 elections.
Naabu told the lawmakers that he recorded the conversation as evidence.
“The reason for recording this tape is that they are coming to tell me to go and tell the president [Nana Akufo-Addo] something… and it is either I don’t go to tell the president and then I and my party suffer for it and if I also go to talk to the president, it is good to tell him the right thing and since I cannot keep everything they were telling me at that point, it was very good to record, and I know the president, [if] I go and tell him something, and it turns [out] not to be true, next time he won’t give me respect,” Naabu said.
“I didn’t do it myself but I requested somebody who knows how to do the recording to come and do it for me. I didn’t use a phone I went to the mall and got this ordinary tape,” he added.
Meanwhile, the government has strongly refuted allegations of a clandestine scheme to oust the Inspector General of Police prior to the 2024 general elections.
“The government has no plan to sack the IGP and we are sure that nothing will be allowed to disturb the peace from now till 2024,” the Interior Minister Ambrose Dery said when the tape was leaked in July.