Security analyst Emmanuel Kotin has asked Ghanaians to stop politicizing the leaked tape capturing an alleged plot to oust the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Dr. George Akuffo Dampare.
He said in an interview on The Big Issue on Citi TV in Accra on Saturday that the issue was a serious one that did not need to be looked at through a political lens.
Instead, Kotin said opportunities in the issue should be looked at so that the country could generate reforms from them.
“The issue before us is a very serious issue, and I am saddened that we are reading political meaning into some of these things. It means that in this country, there is nothing that stands that does not have the long arms of politics, and that is unfortunate. The president has the sole prerogative to appoint or sack an IGP. If the president decides today that he cannot work with the IGP, what can we do? We cannot do anything.”
“So, let’s stop the propaganda and look at the opportunities that this leaked tape presents to us as a country to look at how we can engineer reforms,” he stated.
Meanwhile, Kotin has called on President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to direct the Inspector General of Police (IGP) George Akuffo-Dampare to step aside.
Mr. Kotin believes that the IGP’s stepping aside should be followed by the creation of a Commission of Inquiry to help address the ongoing crisis within the Ghana Police Service.
The police suspended their decision to interdict three senior police officers for their involvement in an alleged plot to remove the IGP, as revealed in a leaked audio recording.
“The bottom line is this: for the sake of national security and the things that are coming out, we need to be very circumspect about how we discuss some of these issues in the public space, because of the damning evidence that is trickling in day by day. I think the president needs to step in and put sanity to all of these things. The president must ask the IGP to step aside so that we can have an independent investigation into this matter, such that no one will be victimized. No witness will be scared to come forward to give evidence, and such that the IGP will not be in a position to tamper with witnesses.”
“The matters before us are very serious matters. The parliamentary committee may have to call it a day, and a proper commission of inquiry headed by a good judge should handle the investigation. The terms of reference can be widened. We should treat this as a national security crisis, and experts can be invited. It cannot be said that Dampare is an angel; no, he is not.”
