A parliamentary committee investigating a leaked tape of some police officers allegedly plotting to remove the Inspector General of the Police (IGP) from office has been criticised for shifting its focus from the main issue.
The tape, made public in August 2023, purportedly captured a conversation between a businessman, a politician, and some police officers on how to subvert the 1992 constitution and install a new IGP.
The committee, chaired by Samuel Atta Akyea, a member of parliament for Abuakwa South, was set up to probe the matter and has so far heard from all the persons identified on the tape, including the IGP, Dr. George Akuffo Dampare.
However, some observers have expressed concern that the committee is not addressing the core issue of the alleged plot to undermine the constitution but focusing on administrative matters such as promotions and the eligibility of the IGP.
One of them is Kwesi Pratt Jnr, the managing editor of the Insight Newspaper, who said in a radio interview that he was “sick” of the committee’s proceedings.
“You have a businessman, a politician, and police officers going into a conclave and discussing how to subvert the 1992 constitution in graphic details. A committee is set up to investigate the matter. So far, all we are hearing are about promotions in the police service, other administrative things, and the legibility of the IGP, that’s all. It makes me sick,” he said.
He added he feared the committee would end up burying the central issue of the subversion of the constitution with irrelevant observations and recommendations.
“It suggests to me that if we don’t take care, at the end of this so-called probe, we are going to get a raft of observations and recommendations which will bury the central issue of the subversion of the 1992 constitution, that is my worry,” he said.
The committee has adjourned its hearing until October 2, 2023, for another public session.
The leaked tape controversy is not the first time Ghana’s police service has been scandalised. In July 2023, a survey by Ghana’s Statistician revealed the police service was ranked as the most corrupt institution in Ghana, with a bribery and corruption prevalence rate of 53.2 per cent. The survey also estimated that Ghana lost approximately GHS5 billion in cash in 2021 due to the payment of bribes to public officials.
Source: Ghana Web
