President Akufo-Addo and Inspector General of Police, George Akuffo Dampare
Host of Dwaboase on Power 97.9FM, Oheneba Boamah Bennie, has expressed his disappointment in the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr George Akuffo Dampare.
The broadcaster says his disappointment stems from the failure of the IGP to sanction police officers who were used to prevent Assembly Members from voting to confirm President Akufo-Addo’s nominees for the position of Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) recently.
The Controversies
Acts of violence, brutalisation, and intimidation characterised the approval of the MMDCEs in some parts of the country, with the highest recorded in the Greater Accra Region.
In the Assin South District, for instance, heavily armed police officers prevented legitimate voters from taking part of the confirmation process. In the Awutu Senya West District, journalists were prevented from monitoring the confirmation process by police officers.
There was over voting in the Cape Coast Metropolis in the Central Region although some Assembly Members did not take part in the process.
Oheneba believes the situation has dented the image of the IGP despite the plaudits he has received from Ghanaians for changing the face of the Ghana Police Service.
Reacting to the arrest of Raggae-Dancehall artiste Shatta Wale who is said to have faked a gunshot attack on him on Monday, Oheneba Boamah Bennie observed that it looks like the IGP is chasing non political persons only.
He said the Police Chief ought to have acted to show that he is not a puppet of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) government.
“IGP, I want to ask you, who sanctioned the activities of the men in police uniform who were used by NPP activists to cause chaos during the elections? ” Bennie quizzed.
To him the activities of the police in the areas where people were deliberately prevented from voting dents the image of Dr Dampare.
Minority Concerns
Meanwhile, the Minority in Parliament (NDC MPs) have condemned the chaos that characterised the approval process of the President’s MMDCE nominees.
Addressing the press, Ranking Member of Parliament’s Local Government and Rural Development Committee, Nii Lante Vanderpuye, indicated that immediate interventions must be put up by the government to prevent further chaos.
Vanderpuye, with reference to incidents at Assin South, Bibiano Anhwiaso, Sekyere Kumawu, Suaman, Awutu Senya West, Shama, Cape Coast, and Lawra, said those incidents, if not checked, could throw the country and its cherished democracy into anarchy.
“We shall protect the sanctity of our democracy and condemn in no uncertain terms actions of people who we see as “wolves in sheep’s clothing,” the MP added.
The Minority also played video footage showing confusion and prevention of Mr Philip Basoah, MP for Kumawu in the Ashanti Region and some assembly members from entering a voting hall to vote to approve or reject a nominee.
There were other video footages that showed some re-appointed chief executives struggling their way through to be approved while other assembly-members were either given wrong dates, venues and times that deprived them of casting their votes for approval or rejection of the nominees.
The Minority further complained about last minute replacement of nominees in the Suaman and Awutu Senya West districts, in addition to the use of security personnel to intimidate voters, especially at the Sekyere/Kumawu areas.
And for Shama, the Minority noted that what made its “case more disturbing is that there was an impending court injunction on the process but the government and its agents disrespected the court and went ahead to organise that botched approval.”
The Minority wondered why there should be brouhaha over the approvals, following an eight-month-long wait for the release of the names by the President, who explained that “the delay was to afford a wider consultation with chiefs and all stakeholders before the names were released.”
It promised to haul the District Commander of Police of the Kumawu Area to the Privileges Committee of Parliament, when the House resumes sitting, to explain why the Kumawu MP was prevented from exercising his franchise.