Tension In Police As ‘PR-Sensitive’ IGP Scapegoats DCOP Over 2020 Military Killings

Tension has engulfed the Ghana Police Service over a statement released against DCOP Prince Gabriel Waabu, about security arrangements for the 2024 general elections.

Senior and junior police officers alike, are scandalized by the attitude of the Inspector General of Police Dr. George Akuffo Dampare on DCOP Waabu’s “honest remarks”.

During an appearance on Joynews’ Election Headquarters unveiling event in Accra, DCOP Waabu spoke about how deployments will be made addressing the subject of military involvement in electioneering.

It will be recalled that the military shot and killed 8 people at Techiman South and across the country during the 2020 election, the first time deaths were recorded during elections in Ghana.

On deployments for the election, DCOP Waabu said election security remained a primary function of the police and that they would invite sister agencies if need be.

He stressed that the successes chalked in by-elections in 2023 would be built upon going into the general elections.

“Like how we organized all those elections within last year and whatever happened in 2022, a lesson has been learned out of it. We are not maybe going to involve the military, as it were, because it was not even the police that came up with this issue.

“So, it’s going to be only the police, prisons, fire and immigration that is going to conduct these elections. They are going to support us; it is our baby, it is the police’s baby, but we will want to co-opt in our sister security to help in one way or the other,” he explained.

Asked whether the military had been informed about the development, he responded: “That has been sorted out by the IGP with his POMAB members, and it is a clear-cut issue; every internal issue is a police issue,” DCOP Waabu added.

Police Rebut investigate DCOP Waabu

In a swift statement, the Police Service said the statement by DCOP Waabu was not representative of the stance of the police describing the statement as “unfortunate” and “unfounded”.

“We would therefore like to disassociate the Ghana Police Service completely from the statements and apologize to the Ghana Armed Forces. The conduct of the officer is being subjected to internal disciplinary processes of the Ghana Police Service.” It said.

“We want to state that under the National Elections Security Taskforce Architecture, The Ghana Police Service works with all other security services including the Ghana Armed Forces to ensure peace, security, law and order, before, during and after elections. The approach to the 2024 General elections will be no different” It added.

Backlash on Dampare and Police Service 

The Backlash on the IGP has been severe and swift with senior and junior police officers alike criticizing the IGP and his Personal Assistant for running the Police Service down.

“What did DCOP Waabu say on that panel that should elicit Dampare to cause such a presser to be issued to embarrass a very senior officer like this?” A Top police figure Queried.

Another weighed in: 

“The Military High Command didn’t issue even an alphabet in response. They allowed it to go.

I think Police officers have to be very weary of this IGP and his PA. Either you take the fight to him or watch your mouth. I think most of them have resorted to the latter and that is why stuff like this won’t stop. A DCOP paaaa. Afei dierrrr Dokita Dampare wo tsire bi”.

Spirit at the various police depots are said to be down due to the effect the decision of Dampare against DCOP Waabu.

Another opinion came: 

‬⁩”I don’t know what DCOP Waabu said apart from the video inset that made the IGP/PA throw him under the bus this way. I think this is one of the reasons why all seniors officers in my view from COPs to ASP appear to have been neutered with the IGP only as the *one man thousand*.

Why should a civil exercise like democratic elections be made to look like the country is going to war?. We have had elections since 1992 and I have never seen any elections that had challenges beyond what the Police and other sister security services with the exception of the military could control.

The drawing of the GAF into democratic elections itself defeats a certain civil nature of the processes and has invariably affected and created problems that had to be dealt with your the Elections Security Taskforce primarily the police.

DCOP Waabu was right that election security is primarily the work of the police which can co-opt other sister security services like fire, prisons and immigration. His comments about military involvement should not have been taken out of context because it was in response to a specific question about Techiman South. He indicated that lessons were learnt from that unfortunate incident where innocent unarmed civilians were shot and killed by the military at a collation centre and that the military were not going to be used *as it were* or like before as I understood him. He went ahead and cited other elections that have happened in the intervening period that saw no or little use of the military and how that turned out.

If you have an IGP who has been accused of not having a good relations with the GAF and who is trying everything humanly possible to erase that accusation by organising a *send off ceremony* for a retiring CDS at the PHQ even before his institution officially bids him farewell, you have to be careful with your words when talking about the GAF.

In my fisherman’s unlearned view and opinion, this presser was extremely unnecessary, unfortunate and calculated to embarrass the DCOP, debeak him and render him unimportant in the scheme of things.

The presser should have at least paraphrased the statements that were attributed to the good old DCOP that probably the IGP had issues with and clarified it rather than use the words *unfounded and dissociate the GPS*.

Now that a DCOP has spoken about elections security and he is going to face disciplinary action, what do you think officers below his rank would do if anybody attempts to interview them about any matter. This high-handed approach by the IGP is one of his many communist inferior tactics with which he has kept his tyrannical hold on not just the officers [SPOs and JPOs] but the entire GPS.

Sometimes, I think the SPOs deserve this treatment because they have allowed a single person to hold them hostage without any response when some brave JPOs have had the balls to take him on.

Our elders say, *s3 wo huu huu aa, y3 de wo sekan dwa nanka*.

I just woke up. I feel like eating fufu and red fish light soup with salted pigfeet against some few fingers of fresh okro. My GP 1 is busy in the kitchen.

It is said by our elders that, *when there is a bazaar on top of the iroki tree the tortoise does not concern itself with it.