The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, has told the Parliamentary Committee probing the leaked audio tape that he has risen through the ranks before being appointed to the current position on merit.
According to IGP Dampare, granted that he was even favoured, his competencies and academic qualifications merited such courtesy, having served for 33 years in the police service.
Appearing before the Atta Akyea led Committee, that is probing the alleged plot to remove him (IGP) from office, Dampare remarked that promotions in the service were based on years in the profession, qualifications and integrity among others.
“In terms of my ranking in the police service, it has been purely based on my competencies, academic qualifications and hard work, because of the passion I have for the work. I have not, at any point in time, been called aside by any individual and granted any favour that I do not deserve,” he insisted.
“And in addition to that, within the 33 years that I have been a police officer, I have risen through the ranks to become Commissioner of Police and later His Excellency the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, honoured me with the position of Inspector General of Police,” he noted.
When asked by the Committee whether the former Northern Regional Chairman of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), Daniel Bugri Naabu, lobbied for him to be appointed IGP, Dampare said no.
The Committee posed that question, based on testimonies by some previous witnesses, but the IGP said that those testimonies were untrue.
JOURNEY
The IGP eloquently but emotionally chronicled his journey in the Ghana Police Service, from when he entered to becoming the overall boss.
He told the committee that he entered the police service as a recruit in 1990, and by December this year, he would have been 33 years in the service.
He explained that to mean that the other witnesses who are officers, COP George Alex Mensah, Superintendent Emmanuel Gyebi and Superintendent George Asare “in terms of who came into the police service first, I senior all of them.”
Narrating his progression within the police service, Dampare stated that he reported to training on December 1, 1990 and completed as a Constable on August 30, 1991.
He stated that within a period of 24 years from being a Constable, he became a Commissioner, which he described as “unprecedented.”
More interesting to him was his becoming a superintendent in 1997, six years after becoming a Constable.
Explaining how he achieved that, Dampare told the Committee that he took advantage of the policy of the service, which permitted personnel to obtain particular ranks with some academic qualifications.
“So, I started off my ‘A’ Level, also by private studies and I was able to get my A Level done. And as a result of that, on the 5th of April 1993, I was promoted to the rank of sergeant. That is two years after I had become a Constable.”
Following from that, he pursued a professional course to become a Chartered Accountant and presented the Certificate of the sections of the course he had passed to the police hierarchy, to make a promotion case, which was accepted.
He was then promoted to Chief Inspector on September 1, 1994 and had the privilege in 1995 to attend the Police College, now the Police Academy, and later became an Assistant Superintendent of police in 1996.
In the same year, he said he became a Chartered Accountant and submitted the Certificates to the service, and he was promoted to the position of Superintendent of Police, skipping the position of Deputy Superintendent of Police, adding that he became Chief Superintendent on February 1, 2003.
Dampare noted that in 2006 he became an Assistant Commissioner of police, a Deputy Commissioner of police in 2010 and in 2014 a Commissioner of police.
COVER UP SHAME
In a soft tone, the IGP said the allegations, which he said were unsubstantiated, have caused him, his family and the team he works with pain.
To him, it was “just not fair” for him to appear before the Committee to answer those allegations, but he had no choice. He was sure that those allegations were baseless and only made by his “brothers” to “cover up the shame” of engaging in the act.
“So, Honourable Chair, I am here, being asked to answer to wild allegations, unsubstantiated by my brothers in order to cover up their shame. I am ready,” he said, in his opening remarks.
The Committee continues sitting today, with the IGP and the previous witnessed being asked to attend.
The Minister for National Security, Kan Dapaah, will also appear before the Committee.
What is not known is whether the hearing would be made in public or in-camera.
