Mr Oduro who was due to retire on January 3, 2018 was last Friday ordered to proceed on leave following what he said was consistent attacks on him by the MP who claimed he [Oduro] was associated with land guards.
He admitted that though his leave should have started in August this year, he decided to continue to work until his retirement as has been the practice, but the accusations that he had failed to tackle the menace of land guards triggered his sudden exit.
Though reasons were not assigned for his being asked to go on leave ahead of his retirement, he was convinced the decision was influenced by Mr. Agyapong’s accusations against him.
“Others [Officers] have used their leave to work earlier and they were not asked to proceed on leave so you can smell rat… That is where I smell rat and I believe that some people are behind it. Obviously, Kennedy is one of them because he’s waged a verbal attack on me from the time that I was appointed,” he told 3FM.
Allegations ‘off tangent’
Speaking on Sunrise morning show Thursday, he told the host, Winston Amoah, that Mr. Agyapong consistently alleged that he was associated with land guards, a claim he said was not true.
“Who are the land guards that I’m associated with? Nobody has mentioned any land guard that I’m associated with but they just say land guards. There was one occasion that I heard Kennedy mention somebody called Awala. I know that Awala, he has land cases at the property fraud and so he comes to the CID headquarters whenever he is invited to.
“I once chaired a meeting he [Alawa] also sat in and so I know him but how will I be associated with him, for what, for what purpose and what do I gain for associating myself with people who are considered a land guard?” he asked
Mr. Oduro said he expected the Police adminstiration to have called Mr Agyapong to order, especially so when some of the attacks were directed at the Police Service
He said he once “brought it [the attacks and accusation] to the attention of the IG [Inspector General of Police] sometime ago that we need to invite him because of the where he was taking the Police to but he wasn’t invited.
“I was told that the higher authority will invite and to talk to him. I don’t know whether they did it and so the war went on, the verbal attack went on and on and on,” he claimed.
The former CID boss said the National Security Minister, Albert Kan-Dapaah once called him to find out why Kennedy Agyapong was always insulting him and “I said I did not know and so from there I thought that he had been spoken to”.
For sometime, he said Mr. Agyapong’s attack ceased until last week Thursday when the attacks started.
“And when he did that, I had my order to proceed on leave early morning on Friday so you could at least link my ‘proceed on leave’ to the attack, my so-called association with land guards because that was the story captured by daily guide.
According to him, he has since not been given reasons for his being asked to go on leave, noting that ““Nobody wants to explain, nobody wants to tell me except daily guide that has come out with a story and the story is that I’m not handling land guard issues well”.
Mr.Oduro stated those making the allegations that he’s failed to handle land guard issues in the country well “are off tangent completely”
“I don’t feel fine, I think I’ve not been treated fairly. I was not given the opportunity to explain anything [to the Police administration]” he said..
‘Irreparable damage’
Asked whether his image has been tainted by the allegations, he responded affirmatively saying “exactly!
“Irreparable damage, irreparable harm has been done to me. I have done 29 years of service and this is not the time anybody can link me with land guards and this is not the time anybody or somebody should tell me to proceed on leave without explanation,” he stated.
On whether he would seek redress in court, he said, “I haven’t decided yet…those allegations that have been made, I need to study the tapes and then be advised accordingly. It’s worth considering”.
By Stephen Kwabena Effah|3news.com|Ghana
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