Veteran journalist and managing editor of the Insight Newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jr., has expressed worry about revelations being made at the public hearing on a leaked tape of an alleged plot to remove the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Dr. George Akuffo Dampare.
He said that he is shocked by the fact that senior
Read full articleofficers of the Ghana Police Service are comfortable publicly stating that promotions in the service are politically induced.
Speaking in an interview on Pan African Television on Tuesday, September 5, 2023, Pratt said that the admission by the police officers shows that Ghana’s system is completely broken and the country is heading towards a disaster.
“I have been watching some developments in this bi-partisan committee that was set up by parliament, investigating the so-called leaked tape. And I’m sitting here and I’m just wondering, what did we do wrong to arrive at a situation where somebody who finds nothing wrong with political partisanship and the use of state institutions to achieve political partisan interest rose to become deputy inspector general of police?
“What happened? What did we do wrong that people who rise to the apex of the police service would think it is alright, okay, to pursue narrow political interests? To the extent of carrying out wilful subventions of the people's right to choose leaders," he said.
The veteran journalist added, “Something is fundamentally wrong with the system we are running today, and it is wrong in two directions: something is wrong with the system and something is wrong with the practice. And unless we wake up, we are heading towards the abyss… I don’t want to be a prophet of doom, but it does appear that Armageddon is in sight”.
Background:
A leaked audio recording, allegedly involving a Police Commissioner and a politician discussing a plot to remove the Inspector General of Police (IGP), George Akuffo Dampare, has ignited public outrage.
In the said video, a Police Commissioner, who described himself as Mensa, was heard with Bugri Naabu plotting the removal of IGP Dr. George Akuffo Dampare over fears he would be too firm in the 2024 elections.
The Police Commissioner, who is said to be retiring, is heard telling the politician that the IGP is too firm and will not allow machinations in next year’s polls if he is not removed.
He further notes that the nature of the security the IGP provided during the Assin North by-election shows he will not allow any rigging in the polls.
The Parliament of Ghana has set up a 7-member committee to conduct a probe into the leaked tape after calls by NDC Members of Parliament.
The police officers captured in the tape, Supt. George Lysander Asare and COP George Alex Mensah, have all testified at the public hearing by the committee that their intelligence indicates that the IGP schemed with Bugri Naabu to record the tape.
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Veteran journalist Kwesi Pratt Jr.
