The legal team of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Dr George Akuffo- Dampare, in the ongoing parliamentary probe into a leaked tape on which some persons were heard plotting the removal of the police chief, say the Committee is deviating from its terms of reference.
The team held that the seven-member parliamentary committee has concluded its job and any other deliberations beyond what the committee has so far done would be extraneous.
A member of the team, Kofi Bentil, ahead of yesterday’s in-camera sitting in Accra, told journalists that “unfortunately, the committee is going away from what it was set up to do.”
The Committee’s mandate is to authenticate the leaked audio recording, investigate the conspiracy to remove the current IGP, and investigate any other matter contained in the audio recording.
It is also to recommend sanctions to persons found culpable where appropriate, make recommendations for reforms where necessary and make such other recommendations and consequential orders as the committee might deem appropriate.
These parameters, Mr Bentil said, had been met and they would ensure, as parties to the probe that, the Committee did not go astray.
“We are inclined to work hard to ensure that the Committee does not lose its way. It cannot be an open-ended wide-ranging probe of the entire police service.”
He alleged that “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).
“We are here to assist the committee to achieve the aims for which it was set up and to that end, we have to limit it to the remits of what the speaker asked it to do.
“We should not allow it to stray, to be open-ended. We believe that what the speaker set it up to achieve has been achieved.”
According to him, stretching the hearing of the Committee beyond the contents of the leaked tape comes at cost to the country to haul the police chief before a committee to respond to his subjects.
“It comes at a high cost for the whole country to pull the head of internal security to be answering questions on behalf of his subordinates. What essentially is going is that we are forcing the IGP to answer to his subordinates.”
Kofi Bentil posited that the police service had elaborate and sufficient systems to deal with administrative issues which were raised by some of the witnesses who had so far appeared before the Committee.
The Committee had thus far heard testimonies of five witnesses – Daniel Bugri Naabu, the former Northern regional chairman of the NPP and originator of the tape, COP (now retired) Alex Mensah, Superintendents George Asare and Emmanuel Gyebi and Dr George Akufo-Dampare.
The Committee yesterday reconvened from a long break for members to participate in the just-ended limited voter registration exercise and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Conference held in Accra.
BY JULIUS YAO PETETSI
