We don’t like change; IGP Dampare has been the best – Ken Agyapong

New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential hopeful Kennedy Agyapong has waded into conversations surrounding an alleged plot to remove the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Dr. Goerge Akuffo Dampare, which was captured in a leaked tape.

Speaking in an interview on Kessben TV on Monday, September 18, 2023, Ken Agyapong, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin Central, indicated that the police officers complaining about the leadership of the IGP don’t want change.

The MP, who is the head of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Defence and Interior, added that IGP Dampare is the best he has seen during his tenure.

“If you go to the police headquarters, you will realise that the man (Dr Dampare) has done well... I have fought with him once because of his refusal to act when the killer of JB Danquah confessed to him, but he has done really well.

“How many times have you heard of armed robbery since Dampare was made IGP? People were being killed and their money was being stolen in broad daylight. How many times have you seen this since Dampare came into office? I have called one of the guys (in the leaked tape) who is from my village and blasted him. We don’t change.

He added, “Since I became the head of the defence and interior committee, we have had a number of IGPs, and this man (Dampare) what he has done, I don’t think we are being fair to him… Don’t make the mistake of removing him. Under him, the rate of armed robbery has reduced drastically; he has transformed the police headquarters; the place looks so clean and beautiful”.

Background:

In the said video, a Police Commissioner, who described himself as Mensah, was heard with Bugri Naabu plotting the removal of IGP, Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, over fears he would be too firm in the 2024 elections.

The Police Commissioner, who is said to be retiring, is heard telling the politician that the IGP is too firm and will not allow machinations in next year’s polls if he is not removed.

He further notes that the nature of the security the IGP provided during the Assin North by-election shows he will not allow any rigging in the polls.

“This IGP won’t help us. He won’t; he wants everything to be done fairly, and we don’t win elections that way. If we don’t remove him, we can’t break the 8; in politics, we need machinations, and this IGP won’t allow that,” the Police Commissioner is heard saying.

The IGP was summoned by the committee of parliament investigating the leaked tap after the two police officers captured in the tape, COP George Alex Mensah and Superintendent George L. Asare, made wild allegations against him before the committee.

They claim that the IGP connived with Burgi Naabu, the former Northern Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), to record the video.

They also raised concerns about the leadership style of the IGP, accusing him of being an autocratic leader.

BAI/SEA

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