Interior Minister, Ambrose Dery, has denied there is any plot by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government to remove the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, from office.
Addressing a press conference in Parliament yesterday, in response to allegations of a purported leaked audio tape by an unnamed police officer that alleged there were plans to rig the 2024 election and also ouster the current IGP, the Interior Minister, dismissed the allegations, urging the public to disregard them as baseless and unfounded.
He maintained that there is no such plot against the Inspector General of Police, emphasizing the importance of upholding the integrity and independence of the police force during the electoral process.
“Tapes will be useful if they relate to a crime, but otherwise No. But I haven’t made that determination whether this is criminal or not. Let me make it absolutely clear that this government is not going to tamper with the 2024 elections. The president does not want to stay one more hour beyond his term. We also want to make sure that we have a free and fair election,” he said.
The unidentified fifty-minute audio contains a recorded conversation expressing frustration over the IGP’s alleged reluctance to align the police force’s activities with the interests of the ruling party.
The audio raised concerns about his leadership style and rumoured association with the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC).
“I know there are others who are also good for this position. If I don’t get and this man is changed and those people that we think they are our men get it, [I will be happy.] Because we need to break this eight. That is important, we need to break the eight. Because I wouldn’t want the doctor to become the flagbearer, and then we lose the elections,” one of the men who is reportedly a police officer in the audio is heard saying.
As a result, they opined that achieving the NPP’s ‘Breaking the Eight agenda would be impossible with Dr. Dampare as the head of the police.
“This IGP is not correct, he won’t help us. Alhaji you have done politics, you know elections is not just elections, sometimes mafia work is inside and this man sitting down up there will not help our party to do anything,” the supposed security official added.
The other, who identified himself in the tape as a former NPP Regional Chairman, corroborated his statement by responding “It’s not just sometimes, mafia work is inside. As for elections mafia work is involved.”
Regarding the just-ended Assin North bye-election, the unnamed security official explained that “we should have selected our own people security personnel to go there so that we work with the party over there so that they know how to do their things.” The purported NPP official agreed.”
“I will talk to the chairman and the general secretary myself; they should stay in the headquarters. They will go and see our plans and work to destroy it,” the supposed senior NPP member responded.
The purported security official further said “This current man will not help us. Me, I have been an NPP (member) a long time before I even joined the service, and now we need… because if we don’t break the 8… that is my only objective.”
When asked why they did not speak up during the IGP’s nomination, he answered “We said it, but they didn’t believe us.”
“We told them that we will regret it, but they thought because we were also fighting for the same position that is why we were destroying him. But when he started arresting party people that is where they saw that hmm, what we told them was true.”
Meanwhile, the Minority in Parliament has urged the government to thoroughly investigate a leaked tape which suggests that the government aims at rigging the upcoming General Elections following the planned removal of the IGP, Dr George Akuffo Dampare.
Speaking to journalists, the Ranking Member on the Defence and Interior Committee of Parliament, James Agalga said such comments pass for treason hence the need for urgent action to be taken by the government to deal with it.
