What the parliamentary ad-hoc committee probing the leaked audio alleging to remove the Inspector General of Police (IGP) seeks to achieve is to establish the authenticity or otherwise of the tape.
And for that to be achieved, Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, the IGP, may have to be hauled before the committee, Vice Chairman of the investigative body, James Agalga has suggested.
According to Mr. Agalga, Dr. Dampare may have to appear before them for the sake of natural justice following his alleged involvement in the audio recording.
He says although the New Patriotic Party’s former Northern regional Chairman, Daniel Bugri Naabu, has admitted before the committee that he recorded the audio, COP Alex Mensah who is at the centre of the brouhaha has given the matter a new twist after alleging that the tape was an orchestration by the IGP himself.
Mr. Agalga has explained that it would only be fair to hear the IGP’s side of the story so far as he has been mentioned to facilitate the process.
“Bugri Naabu took responsibility for recording the tape. But today, COP Alex Mensah, gave the whole matter another twist. He is now alleging that the Inspector General of Police is the one who engineered the recording of the conversation. That is a very serious allegation to make.
“In all fairness to the IGP, the committee may have to invite him to assist in the investigation to determine if he actually played a role in the recording. So that when it turns out that, yes, indeed, he was involved in having the conversation recorded, then he could also help the committee with the authentication. What the committee is interested in is whether the tape in question is authentic or not.
“Bugri Naabu has already taken the lead by saying that he did the recording. Today you heard Alex Mensah say that aspects of the tape are not genuine. He admitted and took responsibility for some aspects of it.
“So I think that it’s only fair that before we make any conclusive statements as a committee, especially as the IGP’s name has been mentioned, in line with natural justice, we should hear from him. But that is my personal view for now,” Mr. Agalga explained on Accra-based Citi TV.
Meanwhile, during the Committee hearing Friday, September 1, 2023, COP Alex Mensah who is currently on leave, pending his retirement from the Ghana Police said the current audio has been doctored.
“My intel suggests that what was used to tape the conversation was done by the current IGP. He sent some people to do it and after which he went for it. And so the tape, from my intel, is with the IGP, and he caused it to be leaked. And so if this committee wants the tape, then it should contact the IGP for it,” he stated.
