It appears the allegations of bias against the chairman of the committee probing the leaked tape on the plot to remove Dr George Akuffo Dampare from his position as the Inspector General of Police (IGP) will not be going away anytime soon.
This follows a decision by some civil society groups to seek clarity on the terms of reference of the committee from the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban Bagbin.
The groups, including Imani Ghana, CDD-Ghana and others have met the speaker to make their concerns known.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, the President of Imani Ghana, Franklin Cudjoe said Mr Atta Akyea was shifting the committee’s focus from its terms of reference.
According to him, this was affecting the mood and the morale within the Ghana Police Service, hence the need for the Speaker to immediately address this.
Mr Cudjoe insisted that the Abuakwa South lawmaker seemed to be working as a judge in his own courtroom.
“We wanted to find out from the Speaker what the original terms of reference for the committee were, because we realised that the committee chairman seems to be setting his questions and answering them.”
“The Speaker was categorical that well, look, I gave the Chairman of the committee specific terms of reference. To get the authenticity of the tape, basically, those comments that were made and the persons who made them,” Mr Cudjoe said.
Meanwhile, Samuel Atta Akyea has denied the allegations of bias levelled against him.
According to him, he had steered the affairs of the committee without prejudice.
“The word doctored I used is what did not sit well with him, but what I said is deduced from how it started. Was I not together with my committee members who afforded the IGP the best opportunity to speak to the press?”
Earlier, Kwame Gyan, Counsel for Dr Dampare, went public about his disappointment in Mr Atta Akyea’s chairing of the committee; insisting that the MP was treating his client unfairly.
According to Kwame Gyan, the chairman who ought to be neutral to the witnesses had shown his biases.
Speaking in an interview with Joy News on Monday, October 9, the outspoken lawyer insisted that Mr Atta Akyea had an agenda that he was pursuing in the matter.
“He has his agenda. He will be granting media interviews to the extent that after one sitting, he went out there and said the extended tape submitted by Bugri Naabu, which had not been played at the committee, has been doctored. Very prejudicial comments,” he said.
On Tuesday, July 11, 2023, a leaked audio recording, allegedly involved a Police Commissioner and a politician discussing a plot to remove IGP Dr Dampare from office before the 2024 general election circulated.
Consequently, the Minority Caucus in Parliament called for a probe into the matter.
Speaker Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin constituted the seven-member bi-partisan committee to authenticate the audio or otherwise and report back to Parliament on September 10, 2023, but the probe is still ongoing.
The committee is made up of three members each from the Majority and Minority sides of Parliament, and a technical person.
The members are Mr Patrick Yaw Boamah, NPP MP for Okaikoi Central; Madam Ophelia Mensah, NPP MP for Mfantseman; Mr Eric Opoku, NDC MP for Asunafo South, and Mr Peter LancheneToobu, NDC MP for Wa West.
Dr Isaac Lartey Annang, a Lawyer and a human rights activist is the technical person appointed by Speaker Bagbin to assist the committee. —Myjoyonline.com
