The president of Imani Ghana, Franklin Cudjoe, has said civil society groups in the country being alarmed over what they say is the worrying conduct and public utterances of the chairman of the special parliamentary committee probing the IGP leaked tape have sought audience with the Speaker of Parliament over the matter.
According to Cudjoe, the civil society groups met the Speaker to inform him that the chairman of the committee Samuel Atta Akyea appears to be putting the IGP on trial even after the people on the audio have confirmed their voices on the tape.
Parliament’s seven-member bi-partisan committee, chaired by Atta Akyea with James Agalga, MP for Builsa North, as the vice-chairman, is investigating the veracity of the leaked audio plotting the removal of George Akuffo Dampare.
On Tuesday, 11 July 2023, a leaked audio recording, allegedly involving a police commissioner and a politician discussing a plot to remove IGP Dampare from office circulated.
Consequently, the Minority Caucus in Parliament called for a probe into the leaked tape.
Alban Bagbin, the Speaker of Parliament therefore constituted the seven-member bi-partisan Committee to authenticate the audio and probe into the secret recording of an alleged plot to remove Dampare, IGP from office ahead of the 2024 general election on Tuesday, July 25, 2023.
Cudjoe said the conduct of the chairman of the committee is affecting morale in the police service.
“We wanted to find out from the Speaker what the original terms of reference for the committee were. Because we realised that the committee chairman seems to be setting his own question and answering them. The Speaker was categorical that well, look ‘I gave the chairman or the committee specific terms of reference. To get the authenticity of the tape, basically those comments that were made and the persons who made them’,” Cudjoe said.
“To the extent that those who have been largely accused have admitted their voices and all, well, we thought that the matter must end. So, we were very alarmed that if we do not take care and the way the committee chairman was handling the issues. Be minded that I’m not mentioning the committee, because the committee chairman is the one directing affairs. Even ranking members have had cause to even walk away at some point in time,” he told Accra-based Citi FM.
Meanwhile, lawyers of the Inspector-General of Police have denied claims by Atta Akyea that they retracted their accusation of bias against him during the in-camera hearing.
“Based on his actions we believe he is biased, we have said so. Many other people agree with us and indeed we think that it is sufficiently said and dealt with and we don’t need to do what he expects us to do in the committee room.
“So look, it is a simple matter. We’ve never backtracked and this issue should never dominate the substantive issues. We have never backtracked and we know what we’ve said…, we still stand by it. His actions show somebody who is biased and we hope that he will shift from that position,” a member of the IGP’s legal team Kofi Bentil told Joy FM.
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