The Executive Director of Good Governance Advocacy Group Ghana (GGAGG), Listowel Nana Kusi-Poku, has slammed the Parliament of Ghana over the handling of the investigation into a leaked tape of a plot to remove the Inspector General of Police, Dr. George Akuffo Dampare.
According to him, the draft report of the committee is hollow and ignores many issues concerning some questionable actions of IGP Dr. Dampare.
He asserted that the report is much ado about nothing and it does not bring to bear the many supposed crimes committed by the IGP.
"Some men decide to be in command and go to Bortianor and shoot people, kill them. And the IGP that gave the command, you are telling me, has not been investigated, but they are just thinking about how people were orchestrating for him to be ousted from office, and you think that should be okay with me," he said.
The executive director questioned why details of the parliamentary committee that probed the leaked tape have not been released yet to the general public.
He alleged that the draft report of the committee in circulation is not the real report and that supporters of Dr. Dampare are trying to shield him.
"I just want to find out what has led to the delay of the report. I saw civil society organisations go to the speaker, one of them is Dampare's lawyer. Kofi Bentil was there calling for the speaker not to release the committee report.
"Have you heard from Atta Akyea? This report is bogus, it is not true. It is Dampare's cooked report. The original report must have details of whatever was discussed, even in camera."
The leaked report of the committee was signed by the seven members of the committee; however, the chairman of the committee, Samuel Atta Akyea, did not sign it.
It has emerged that the members of the committee are at loggerheads over the final report from their investigations.
A report by Myjoyonline indicates that Samuel Atta Akyea, the chairman of the committee, has disowned the report, which has been widely circulated on various media platforms in recent weeks.
According to the report, Atta Akyea, who is also the Member of Parliament for the Abuakwa South constituency, has denied knowledge of the report, indicating that the report submitted to Parliament does not bear his signature.
Samuel Atta Akyea's decision not to sign off on the report is reportedly due to reservations he has about the conclusions reached by the committee and the refusal by other members of the committee to concur with his motion for the invitation of more witnesses to substantiate some claims made against Dr. Dampare.
One particular case, which, per the report, was of utmost importance to Samuel Atta Akyea, is the supposed extrajudicial killings supervised by the IGP, Dr. Dampare.
In furtherance of his disapproval, Samuel Atta Akyea is reportedly preparing to present a report exclusive of the widely circulated one, during which he will make known his reservations.
Owing to this standoff between Samuel Atta Akyea and other committee members, the Majority Chief Whip, Frank Annoh Dompreh, was stopped in his tracks on June 18, 2024, as he sought the permission of the 2nd Deputy Speaker to lay the report.
The decision was because Annoh Dompreh did not have the approval of Samuel Atta Akyea to lay the report before the house. Kennedy Agyapong, however, was granted permission by Atta Akyea to lay the report on his behalf at a later date.
Meanwhile, excerpts of the report sighted by GhanaWeb indicate that two of the officers, Superintendent George Lysander Asare and Superintendent Emmanuel Gyebi, lied under oath during their testimony before the committee.
The committee found the officers in contempt of Parliament under Order 30 of the Standing Orders of Parliament (2000) as revised by Order 31 (f) of the Standing Orders of Parliament (2024).
Watch Kusi-Poku's remarks in the video below:
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