Asawase Member of Parliament and Minority Chief Whip, Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka, has cautioned against inadvertently making a monster out of Inspector-General of Police, IGP George Akufo-Dampare.
He holds that the Police chief is a good guy who is dispatching his duties and leading a wind of change in the service but recent events leave much to be desired.
GhanaWeb monitored comments Muntaka made on Joy News’ Sunday night talk programme, The Probe, whiles discussing the recent botched attempts to arrest a sitting MP, Francis-Xavier Sosu of Madina.
‘.. I mean Dampare, oh good guy … let’s be careful we don’t create a monster out of him. Let’s be careful because you see, he has to make sure that he’s also working within the confines of the law’, the MP said.
“He has to make sure that he is also working within the confines of the law. If you read Articles 117 and 118 where it talks about the certificate of a speaker, even when you arrest an MP and this happens everywhere in the world, and the speaker writes to you, that writing is enough.”
Muntaka insists that he had spoken to security sector ministers who confirmed that the Sunday, October 31, 2021, attempt to arrest Sosu at a church premises in Madina was by men from the Police administration.
The move was the second in under a week, after a similar attempt on October 25 had failed when the MP led his constituents to protest bad roads in parts of his constituency.
That attempt led to a Parliamentary summons issued against two police commanders for their roles in the attempt to arrest Sosu. The MP insists that he was on legislative duties at the time the said arrest was attempted.
Muntaka drove to the Church premises to ‘rescue’ Sosu who had been locked in the Church with teeming youth around the compound. GhanaWeb’s reporter on the ground confirmed that at the time Muntaka arrived, the plain-clothed officers had left.
The Ghana Police Service on late Sunday, October 31, 2021; issued a press statement around an attempted arrest targetting a sitting Member of Parliament, Francis-Xavier Sosu.
The seven-point statement signed by ACP Kwesi Ofori, the Director-General of Public Affairs said stories circulating that personnel “had been despatched to arrest the MP at a church … are untrue.”
“Any plain-clothed Police personnel found on the premises of the church may have been there for intelligence purposes and not to effect an arrest,” it continued.
Other issues the Police statement addressed:
• Police investigating certain alleged criminal acts from October 25 #FixOurRoads protest led by MP
• The Police on the day of protest “invited” the MP, no attempt to arrest him
• MP declined invitations citing Parliamentary privilege
• Three persons helping Police with investigations relative to the issue
• Police will continue to seek MP’s cooperation
• Police will continue investigations into the issue
