Member of IGP Akuffo Dampare’s legal team, Kofi Bentil, has condemned the manner in which the Ad hoc committee set up to investigate the leaked audio on the IGP is steering the probe, insisting the committee is forcing the IGP to answer to his subordinates.
According to him, there’s a high cost for the whole country to pull the head of the internal security service, head of administration of the “50,000 strong Ghana Police force and let him be here answering questions on behalf of his subordinates”.
Mr Bentil contended that, on another level, the IGP’s “presence here should have been resisted a bit”. However, he indicated that the IGP is very much inclined to answer any question and not give any suggestion that he has anything to hide, although the “price that we are paying is what we are talking about – it affects our security”.
“So, the questions that are being asked him, what essentially is going on? We are forcing the IGP to answer to his subordinates. The point that has to be made is that the police force has elaborate, sufficient system to deal with queries, critique or whatever it is…”
Kofi Bentil
Speaking ahead of the ad hoc committee hearing setup to probe the leaked audio on the IGP today, October 10, 2023, Mr Bentil stated that posts on social media regarding the hearing are personal, however, he is present as the official spokesperson for the IGP’s legal team.
Ad hoc committee urged to stay within remit of case
Furthermore, Mr Bentil noted that the committee set up by the Speaker of parliament means that the committee has a clear remit to operate.By this, he stated that indeed, the IGP is interested in assisting the committee to achieve what the Speaker set it up to achieve.
“So, we are here to assist parliament in its duty… Part of what I have been saying in my post is that, unfortunately, it looks like the committee is going a bit away from what it was set up to do. We have cooperated with the committee, and we will continue to cooperate with the committee.
“Indeed, we had the instruction of our client to make sure that we provide every information and make it available. But we are inclined to also work hard to ensure that the committee does not lose its way. It cannot be an open-ended, wide-ranging probe of the entire police service.”
Kofi Bentil
Commenting on the series of witnesses being invited by the committee to the hearing, Mr Bentil questioned the intention of the committee on the new trajectory of the matter. He highlighted that the legal representatives for the IGP speaking on the matter “don’t just think, we are speaking on matters of fact”.
“So, you can tell that in the past, we have been here, we have allowed our client to speak and answer all kinds of questions. So far, it’s clear, it’s a matter of fact that as we speak, all manner of invitations are being made to all manner of persons to speak on all manner of issues.
“… Again, we are here to assist the committee to achieve the aims for which it was set up. To that extent, we have to limit it to the remit of what the Speaker asked it to do.”
Kofi Bentil
Moreover, Mr Bentil insisted that the posture of the IGP with regards to the in-camera hearing on the case is not a “combat, it’s not adversarial and not a matter of we coming to resist anything”. However, he explained that there’s a goal to all of these which must be realized.
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