Security Analyst Samuel Nana Appiah suggests that Dr. George Akuffo Dampare’s power as Inspector-General of Police (IGP) has been diminished with the appointment of Commissioner of Police (COP) Christian Tetteh Yohuno as the new Deputy IGP in charge of Operations.

President Akufo-Addo announced COP Yohuno’s appointment following the advice of the Police Council at its meeting held on Wednesday, July 17, 2024. During the meeting, COP Yohuno’s exceptional credentials and dedication to duty were acknowledged.

COP Christian Tetteh Yohuno is a distinguished law enforcement officer with a career spanning over three decades, during which he has held various key positions within the Ghana Police Service.

In an interview on the Ghana Kasa show on Kasapa 102.5FM/Agoo TV, Samuel Nana Appiah expressed that COP Yohuno’s appointment effectively makes him the IGP.

“Let me be blunt here, IGP Dampare’s authority or power within the Police Service has been neutralized with President Akufo-Addo’s appointment of COP Tetteh Yehuno as Deputy IGP in charge of Operations. I say so because the primary duty of the Police Service is operations. So if the operations bit of the police service work has been assigned to your deputy, then more or less, the IGP position has been handed to him.

“Administratively, the IGP has the authority, but with the command structure, almost all of them are coming directly under the supervision of the Deputy IGP in charge of operations, including the Director-General CID, Director-General Welfare, Director-General I.T. Almost all of the rest will have to report to the Deputy IGP in charge of Operations.”

The Chief Executive Officer of the Global Intelligence and Security Analysis Center (GISAC-Ghana) described COP Yohuno as one of the finest police officers in the country’s history.

“COP Yohuno has over 30 years of experience as a police officer. He has been a very professional, distinguished officer with an impeccable police record. If you are looking for one of the finest gentlemen in the Police Service, he’s one of them. He genuinely acknowledges that Ghanaians have given him the opportunity to serve the country, and he does his work with humility and diligence. He has been fantastic, and I think this appointment is long overdue. It should have come years back to enable him to do more for the Police Service and Ghana. He’s an astute police officer, and I believe he even qualifies to be the substantive IGP.”