Dampare leaked tape not fake - Martin Amidu

Martin A. B. K. Amidu, the former Special Prosecutor, says the leaked tape alleging plots to oust Mr George Akuffo Dampare, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) from office, is “authentic and not fake”.

“The 50 minutes plus leaked tape recording I listened to several times is authentic and not fake. One of the interlocutors was my client in 1980 to 1982 when I practiced law in the Northern Region whose voice I cannot miss when I hear it.

“I have been to his Accra office on the Castle road and know that while speaking to him, his mobile phone is always on and he continues receiving phone calls, which interrupt whatever serious discussion one is having with him.

“By those incoming phone calls, the inexperienced are put at ease of the likelihood of being recorded,” he said in a write up.

The tape, which leaked on Tuesday July 11, is said to involve a high-profile police commissioner and some leaders of the governing New Patriotic Party, who were allegedly scheming to oust the IGP.

According to the tape, the plotters believed Dr Dampare could be a “stumbling block” to the Party’s cause towards winning the 2024 election.

The Government, through the Minister of the Interior, Mr Ambrose Derry, has denied the allegations, describing the leaked tape as “baseless”.

Mr Amidu said the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mensah with four months terminal leave to be discharged from the Ghana Police Service, who was heard on the leaked tape, and the other senior officers on video or other platforms scheming against the IGP, were only vocalising a tradition that undermined colleagues in an attempt to be preferred for higher appointment.

He alleged that the IGP was handpicked for the position on grounds of proven loyalty to the Government and that the discussion for the replacement of his predecessor started long before his predecessor left office.

Mr Amidu said the three persons in the discussion, who held positions on the Police Council, were his friends and that when Dr Dampare’s predecessor was to leave office, the discussions and maneuvers intensified but the President’s support and concurrence was sought and obtained.

“I know as a matter of fact that Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia who chairs the Police Council and chaired the Council meeting, which formally recommended Dr. Dampare’s appointment to the President was a staunch supporter of Dr. Dampare, long before the office of IGP became vacant,” he alleged.

Mr Amidu said impending vacancies in the office of the IGP always generated lobbying and scheming within the high echelons of the Police Administration.

“Indeed, it has been so for promotions to positions when the vacancy is limited by numbers. I was a member of the Ghana Police Council from 1989 to 2001 and know how intense these scheming can be, and what stories eligible senior police officers can coin against perceived rivals for the positions.

“I also became the Minister for the Interior with additional responsibility as the Minister for Security and Intelligence. Senior officers of the Ghana Police Service lobbied me as well for appointment to enhanced positions and only God was witness to what they said about their competing colleagues.”

He said similar scheming and maneuvers took place before Dr Dampare was preferred over his other contestants some of whom were more senior to him in the Ghana Police Service.

Mr Amidu said unfortunately, Dr Dampare was fairly young in age and likely to incumber the position for several more years unless senior police officers schemed for his early removal from office.

“And what was heard on the leaked tape answers to the usual scheming within the Ghana Police Service, ” he added.