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By Francis Ntow\/Jibril Abdul Mumuni\u00a0<\/p>\n
Accra, July 17, GNA \u2013 Professor Ransford Gyampo, a Senior Lecturer at the Political\u202fScience Department of University of Ghana, has urged President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to\u202furgently act on a leaked tape alleging plots to oust the Inspector General of\u202fPolice (IGP) ahead of the 2024 national election.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAll that I am looking for, is that the government comes out to either confirm or to\u202fsay that we have nothing to do with this, and this is what is going to happen,\u201d Prof Gyampo\u202fsaid. \u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was contributing to televised discussions monitored by the Ghana News Agency\u202fon the issue.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Minister\u2019s response is not enough; I am looking for a statement from the\u202fPresident because it was not Ambrose Dery, who appointed the IGP.\u202fSo, I\u2019m looking for a statement from the presidency that he disassociates himself\u202ffrom the utterances in the tape,\u201d Prof Gyampo said. \u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, Mr Samuel Okudjeto Ablakwah,\u202fsaid it was important for a parliamentary probe into the allegation. \u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Interior Minister did double speaking, earlier, seeking to downplay [and] treat\u202fthe tape with some contempt, then later the next day in Parliament, now adopting the\u202fright posture,\u201d Mr Ablakwah said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, that flip flop approach, we don\u2019t know, which one really is coming from his\u202fBoss. So, his Boss himself must speak and give assurance, but it should be without\u202fprejudice to what Parliament is going to do,\u201d he added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Mr Habib Iddriss, who said the leaked audio was an invasion of privacy, \u202fsaid: \u201cIt\u2019s very wrong to record someone without their consent.\u2019\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
The MP questioned the motive of the recording, adding that attempts to set up a\u202fparliamentary probe into the leaked tape was not necessary. \u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n
On another television programme, Felix Ofosu Kwakye, an aide to former\u202fPresident John Dramani Mahama, said the extent of the politicisation of the\u202fsecurity institutions of the State was worrying.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, a former Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic\u202fCongress (NDC), Mr Koku Anyidoho, in a tweet, urged the President to restrain\u202fhimself from commenting on the audio.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom a Communications\/PR perspective and having worked as Head of\u202fCommunications\/Presidential Spokesperson, I would not advise President Akufo-Addo to comment on the tape doing the rounds vis the IGP. There is absolutely no\u202fneed for the President to comment,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Minister for the Interior, Mr Ambrose Dery negated reports that loyalists of the\u202fgoverning New Patriotic Party (NPP) were plotting to remove the IGP.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no plot to remove anybody. \u202fI can assure you that I serve a President, who\u202fis committed and has respect for human rights. Under Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo we will make sure that 2024 is peaceful,\u201d he said in a media engagement last\u202fTuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOne thing to be sure of is that, 2024 will not be a violent election by anybody and no one\u202fwill want to thwart the will of the people. If you vote us in, you vote us in, if you\u202fvote us out, you vote us out,\u201d the Interior Minister said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban Bagbin, has directed the constitution of a\u202fseven-member special committee to probe the matter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
GNA\u00a0<\/p>\n