Deputy Majority Whip questions parliament's decision to probe leaked Dampare audio

Tolon Member of Parliament and Deputy Majority Whip Habibu Iddrisu, has expressed doubts about the effectiveness of the parliamentary committee established by Speaker Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin to investigate the leaked audio recording that allegedly reveals a plot to remove Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr. George Akuffo Dampare.

In a discussion on TV3's Key Points on Saturday, Habibu Iddrisu criticized the decision to involve Parliament in the matter, stating that there are more appropriate agencies equipped to handle such investigations.

Habibu Iddrisu stated, "If that committee is set up and Parliament finishes its work then what? There are agencies that are equipped to handle this tape, not Parliament. From where I sit, I don’t see where it is going, it is just the politics we are seeing. This committee the speaker has formed, I don’t see where it will go. I don’t think Parliament was the right forum for this to be done. There is more to it than we have heard."

On Thursday, July 13, Speaker Alban Bagbin ordered the formation of a seven-member committee to probe the leaked audio recording, which allegedly involves individuals plotting the removal of IGP Dr. George Akuffo Dampare. The committee will consist of three members from each side of the House, along with one technical expert. The Speaker directed that the names of the three members from the Majority and Minority caucuses be announced within one week.

Background

GhanaWeb has intercepted a series of secret recordings exposing details of a plot by some top officials of the ruling New Patriotic Party and the Ghana Police Service to displace the current Inspector General of Police, Dr George Akuffo Dampare from office ahead of the 2024 polls.

Apparently threatened by his leadership style and alleged affiliation with the opposition National Democratic Congress, the group who were recorded in a secret meeting concluded that the NPP’s “Breaking the 8” agenda will be impossible with Dampare at the helm of the police.

“Alhaji, my only problem… this current IGP if we do a mistake and take him to the elections, it will not help us. It will not help us at all and I will not mind if the position is not given to me but that man is changed; because he will not help us, he will not help us at all… he won’t help the party at all.

“I know there are others who are also good for this position, if I don’t get and this man is changed and those people that we think they are our men get (it is ok) … Because we need to break this 8. That is important, we need to break the 8… Because I wouldn’t want doctor to become the flagbearer and then we lose the elections… ” one of the senior officers told the senior NPP member who is believed to be a former regional chairman of the party and now a traditional ruler.

YNA/KPE