Leaked Tape: Hold next sittings behind closed door - Analyst to Parliament

Security analyst Samuel Nana Appiah says the committee tasked with investigating the leaked audio on the preparations to depose the Inspector General of Police should have held a secret hearing first before disclosing its conclusions to the public.

He stated that the outcome of the public hearing and what has so far been revealed by the witnesses who have been before the committee are telling and should not be ignored.

Speaking on Nyankonton Mu Nsem on Rainbow Radio 87.5Fm, he said that instead of forming a new committee, Parliament’s Committee on Defence and Interior could have probed the situation.

Samuel Nana Appiah voiced concern about the current situation before the Committee as well as the fresh petitions being brought to the Committee by other individuals seeking to appear before it.

As a result, he has charged authorities with dealing with the consequences of the committee meeting so that it does not escalate and disrupt police service activities.

“The committee could have conducted its investigation behind closed doors. At this point, I believe the public has heard enough from the committee meeting. They should hold the next sittings in closed session; otherwise, we may witness a citation in which important security issues are divulged, thereby jeopardising our national security.”

He went on to say that the service needed to be reformed to make it more efficient and effective.

“According to what is happening, some of the witnesses have decided to disclose other matters that were not captured on the tape,” he said. They want to go all out and state things that were recorded on tape while blaming the IGP for GPS mismanagement. The public should be able to digest the issues. The committee must be led by these problems and act in the public’s best interests.

Another aspect I’d like to bring up is that the two senior officers, COP Mensah and Superintendent George Asare, have become the sacrificial lambs who have revealed key issues regarding the current IGP’s handling of the police. We must not brush what they have disclosed under the rug, but rather take them seriously.”