Agalga hints of dragging IGP before parliamentary probe

James Agalga, the Vice Chairman of the ad-hoc parliamentary committee investigating the leaked tape on the alleged plot to oust the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Dr George Akuffo Dampare, said the committee, may have to invite the IGP to help in the ongoing probe.

The Member of Parliament for Builsa North Constituency in the Upper East Region on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Friday, said although former Northern Regional Chairman of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Bugri Naabu, took responsibility for the recorded audio, recent claims by the Commissioner Of Police (COP) Alex Mensah, one of the top police officers at the centre of the case, give the issue a new twist.

But former Deputy Defence Minister, Major Derrick Oduro (Rtd.), has said that there is no need for the IGP to appear before the ad-hoc parliamentary committee probing his alleged ousting.

COP Mensah, one of the top police officers implicated in the alleged plot to oust the Inspector General of Police on Friday, September 1, told the committee that Dr Dampare, orchestrated the recording of the leaked tape and has the original copy and must be called upon, if the committee needs the tape.

“My intel suggests that what was used to tape the conversation was done by the current IGP. He sent some people to do it and after which he went for it. And so the tape, from my intel, is with the IGP, and he caused it to be leaked. And so if this committee wants the tape, then it should contact the IGP for it,” he stated.

Mr Agalga had said on Citi FM that “Bugri Naabu took responsibility for recording the tape. But today, COP Alex Mensah, gave the whole matter another twist. He is now alleging that the Inspector General of Police is the one who engineered the recording of the conversation. That is a very serious allegation to make. In all fairness to the IGP, the committee may have to invite him to assist in the investigation to determine if he actually played a role in the recording. So that when it turns out that, yes, indeed, he was involved in having the conversation recorded, then he could also help the committee with the authentication. What the committee is interested in is whether the tape in question is authentic or not”.

“Bugri Naabu has already taken the lead by saying that he did the recording. Today you heard Alex Mensah say that aspects of the tape are not genuine. He admitted and took responsibility for some aspects of it. So I think that it’s only fair that before we make any conclusive statements as a committee, especially as the IGP’s name has been mentioned, in line with natural justice, we should hear from him. But that is my personal view for now,” Mr   Agalga said.

However, Former Deputy Defence Minister, in an interview on Citi FM, intimated that there is no need for the IGP to be invited before the Committee.

“There is no need for the IGP to be invited because it is an accusation against him and I don’t know the terms of reference [of the Committee] and we are talking about a leaked tape, and I am not sure the terms of reference cover anything that will warrant the invitation of the IGP, and so I don’t think it is in a good direction for them to invite the IGP.”

“The Committee should consider the matter as it has been reported in the leaked tape and that should end it.”

Major Oduro (Rtd.) also criticized the decision of the Committee to broadcast its sittings, which he argued could harm public security.

“I thought it was going to be an administrative inquiry so that some of these things don’t come out. This should have been done in-camera because some security issues would have come up and protected if it was in-camera. It is not the best that a sitting IGP is being chastised this publicly, it is not the best.”