Leaked tape committee must fish out those using the police for political agendas – MP

Deputy Minority Leader Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah says the Ghana Police Service is not on trial in the ongoing parliamentary probe into the leaked tape in which some police officers were plotting the removal of the IGP, Dr. George Akuffo Dampare.

The deputy minority leader, who joined the committee on Tuesday, said the leaked tape and its contents were serious and should be addressed.

According to him, the senior police officers’ comments on the tape were serious and could jeopardise stability, peace, and security, and could not have been left alone.

As a result, he brought it up on the floor of parliament, and the Speaker appointed a committee to investigate it.

"The Police Service is not on trial. I was very clear in my mind when I stood up on the floor of parliament to basically call on the speaker, and the reason I did that, was because I heard the voices of professional police officers, who supposedly said things that were unbelievable that I thought should not be said. And I said to myself, Is this true?

If it is true and persists in the Police service, we need to know and address it through recommendations so we can be sure that we have a professional police service that will protect the interests of this country, especially when it comes to the stability of this country, and our democracy, which we do every four years in elections”.

The lawmaker opined that the police officers have nothing to fear if they have done nothing wrong or engaged in any wrongdoing.

"To the proud Police Officers who are dedicated professionals, that are honest and doing the right thing, there is nothing to worry about.”

He stressed that "good people in the GPS are not on trial, but those who are in the Police Service and turning it into a political football are those who we want to fish out”.