Awuni Goes Mad

The Commanding officer of the Motor Traffic and Transport Unit (MTTU) of the Ghana Police Service, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Awuni Angwubutoge, yesterday exposed what he said was an undue interference by the former Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Armah Ashietey, during a registration exercise last Thursday.

He said his decision to speak on the issue, in contrast to an earlier refusal, was informed by some untruths being put out by the former regional minister in sections of the media.

The police chief ordered the arrest of Mr Ashietey, the Member of Parliament (MP) of the Klottey Korley constituency in Accra, on Thursday for physically preventing certain individuals and group of persons from registering in the ongoing biometric voter registration exercise because he suspected most of them were from the Odododiodioo constituency- which is only separated from the Klottey Korley by a street. He was subsequently held behind the counter of the police station for a while before being released on a self-recognisance bail on the instructions of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Paul Tawiah Quaye.

The usually calm ACP Awuni seemed to have been provoked by threats by Mr Ashietey to see to his dismissal from the Police Service, a comment that compelled him to offer Mr Ashietey his service cap to probably enable him to speed up the processes to get him sacked.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning show yesterday, ACP Awuni said, “He made mention that he would make sure that I am dismissed from the Police Service and so when they (the policemen) brought him in (to the charge office) I gave him my (police) cap. In fact, I was furious, I gave him my cap that if he is a man he should dismiss me.”

As a professional police officer, Mr Awuni said, he could not fathom why the former minister would threaten to cause his dismissal whilst discharging his lawful duties, insisting, “I was doing my job, he did not employ me.”

He asked, “How can you tell me you will dismiss me. Are you the one who employed me?” emphasizing, “The NDC came to meet me and left, the NPP came to meet me and left, and I’m still a policeman and I’m doing my job and I think that every policeman must be seen to be doing his job without regard to looking at faces in political parties.”

“We should not think that because we hold certain positions, we are above the laws of this country…even our president is not above the laws of this country and therefore he behaves in such a way that he will not be confronted with the law,” he stated.

It is not clear what ACP Awuni might have told the former minister that offended him.

Whilst admitting that he might have over-reacted, the MTTU boss said, “At a certain time, you decide to forget about code of conduct; that is one reason why I even apologized, otherwise, I wouldn’t have apologized to him. I realized later that what I said to him wasn’t the best.” He also denied claims by Nii Ashietey that the police brutalized him as minimal force was applied when the former minister resisted arrest– he was pushed into the charge office.