Chairman of the seven-member parliamentary committee probing the secret tape on which some persons were plotting to remove the Inspector-General of Police has dismissed allegations of bias against him by the counsel of the police chief, Dr George Akuffo Dampare.
Mr Samuel Atta Akyea said he has been fair and candid in his role and would not use the platform to denigrate anybody.
“It is a very dubious and devilish posture (to suggest that I have been bias) because I don’t understand why anybody in his right mind will say that I want to change the evidence in favour of somebody.
“I am not here for that exercise to skew evidence in favour of another person. What will be the dividends to me?” Mr Atta Akyea asked.
He was speaking with reporters after yesterday’s in-camera sitting of the Committee in Accra.
His comments comes on the back of allegations of bias against him by the IGP’s legal team.
A member of the team, Kofi Bentil, told the media on Tuesday that the chairmen had allowed “extraneous issues” into the work of the committee and in the process allowed all manner of claims to be tabled against their client.
“As we speak, all manner of invitations are being made to persons to speak to all manner of issues. It cannot be what was intended (when the Committee was set up),” he said arguing that the committee was done with its work.
But Mr Atta Akyea said he has the confidence of the speaker of parliament to execute his mandate without fear of favour.
“What the speaker saw in me, an NPP member of parliament, to chair a committee of this nature is a vote of confidence that this is a man who will be a firm referee for the benefit of what we want to unearth.”
He wondered why the legal team of the IGP was unable to raise those concerns anytime they appeared before the committee.
“They couldn’t table their claim before me. If they were bold they would have raised it before me,” he said.
To him, siting his decision to deny top hierarchy of the police entry into the in-camera hearing was ridiculous.
“I don’t see why somebody will say a chairman is blocking the hierarchy of the police from sitting in the in-camera hearing and that is evidence of bias.”
He said they were nearing the end of their work and would look at the evidence and most probably, start writing their report unless there are residual matters.
The Committee, meanwhile, has adjourned sitting indefinitely but members would be meeting to analyse the evidences before them.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
