IGP Dampare Was Disingenuous – Security Analyst

Executive Director at the Africa Centre for Security and Counter Terrorism, Emmanuel Kotin, has reacted to the responses of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Dr George Akuffo Dampare, concerning the leaked tape to oust him [Dr Dampare] from office.

IGP Dr George Akuffo Dampare appeared before the committee tasked by parliament to probe the matter on Tuesday, September 12.

Among other things, he refuted many allegations and claims against him.

To buttress his point that there were no divisions within the police service, with senior members in agreement with most of his policies and leadership style, he referred to the members of the Police Management Board (POMAB) who accompanied him to the venue of the committee sessions.

According to Dr Dampare, some of the officers were sick, yet they made efforts to be present when he gave his testimony because of their love for him.

However, Mr Kotin believes that the IGP cannot use the presence of the POMAB members to justify support because they are mandated to do so as senior officers of the Ghana Police Service.

“As a requirement, all the POMAB [Police Management Board] members came with him; that is why it is a regimental institution. So for him to use the presence of the POMAB members as a fiat, I think it is so disingenuous,” he stated.

According to Mr Kotin, “Dr Dampare is not on trial. It is the police institution that is on trial”.

Mr Kotin suggested that the IGP could have accepted some of the allegations made against him by COP George Alex Mensah and George Lysander Asare when he was granted the opportunity to speak on the issue.

Mr Kotin also disagreed with the explanation offered by the IGP concerning centralised information dissemination to the public.

Former Director General of Operations of the Ghana Police Service, COP George Alex Mensah, who appeared before the parliamentary committee earlier, claimed that the IGP had gagged the police service and senior police were not allowed to express dissenting views or interact with the media on criminal cases.

The IGP, in a rebuttal on the same platform, indicated that centralising information flow in the service was in accordance with international best practices.

However, Mr Kotin has strongly opposed the claim by the IGP that centralising information flow in the force is in tandem with international best practices.

He noted that he has not seen anywhere in the world where information flow in the police is centralised.

He indicated that the bureaucratic nature of the centralisation system was defeating the idea of community policing in the country.

“How can it be a case that an event will happen in a local community and the commander in the area cannot speak to the issues? It has to come to Accra before it can be disseminated,” Mr. Kotin stressed.

He was of the view that the development has exposed cracks in the Ghana Police Service, which requires redress.

“COP Mensah should not be harmed for coming out boldly to say the truth. I think there should be a reform within the Ghana Police Service,” he stated in an interview monitored by The Ghana Report on Joy News.

COP Mensah, together with Emmanuel Eric Gyebi and George Lysander Asare, both superintendents, were captured in the leaked tape ostensibly plotting to remove the IGP, Dr George Akuffo Dampare, before the 2024 general elections.

Parliament constituted a seven-member committee to probe the matter and present recommendations.