Deputy Majority Whip challenges the choice of the legislature to look into the leaked Dampare tape

Habibu Iddrisu, a member of parliament from Tolon and the deputy majority whip, has voiced concerns about the effectiveness of the parliamentary committee appointed by Speaker Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin to look into the audio recording that has leaked and purports to reveal a plot to oust IGP Dr George Akuffo Dampare.

Habibu Iddrisu expressed his disapproval of the move to include Parliament in the situation during a debate on TV3’s Key Points on Saturday. He said that other organisations better suited to handle such inquiries exist.

“What if that committee is established and Parliament completes its work,” said Habibu Iddrisu. Rather than Parliament, there are organisations that are qualified to manage this tape. I cannot predict where it will go from where I am standing; all we can see is the politics. I’m not sure what will happen with the committee the speaker has established. It didn’t seem appropriate to me to do this in the House of Representatives. We haven’t heard everything there is to say.

IGP Dr. George Akuffo Dampare is supposedly the subject of a leaked audio tape that Speaker Alban Bagbin ordered to be investigated by a seven-member committee on Thursday, July 13. There will be one technical expert on the committee and three representatives from each party of the House. The three representatives from the Majority and Minority caucuses must be notified within a week, per the Speaker’s directive.

Background

A series of covert recordings that were intercepted revealed information of a scheme to remove the incumbent Inspector General of Police, Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, from office before the 2024 elections, which was organised by certain senior members of the ruling New Patriotic Party and the Ghana Police Service.

They came to the conclusion that Dampare’s leadership style and purported membership in the opposition National Democratic Congress would make the NPP’s “Breaking the 8” programme unachievable. This conclusion was captured on camera at a secret meeting.

“Alhaji, my only issue is that, if we make a mistake and put the present IGP on the ballot, it won’t be helpful to us. It won’t assist us at all, and I won’t care if the post isn’t handed to me as long as that man is replaced. He won’t help us in any way, and he won’t help the party either.

“I know there are others who are also qualified for this position, but if I don’t get the job and this man changes, and those people who we believe to be our men do, then it’s okay,” the candidate said. We must shatter this 8 because. That is crucial; we must break the eight… The senior NPP member, who is said to be a former regional chairman of the party and currently a traditional ruler, was informed by one of the top officials, “I wouldn’t want doctor to become the flagbearer and then we lose the elections…