Harlley Appears Before the Prisons Commission

As the Inspector General of Police and Deputy Chairman of the National Liberation Council John William Kofi Harlley’s appearance before the Prisons Commission set up by the junta following the death of Dr. J.B Danquah and the inhuman conditions prevailing at the Nsawam Medium Security Prison was significant.

He knew a lot of things and his no-disclosures went a long way in affording us better knowledge about what being a political prisoner meant under the obnoxious Preventive Detention Act.

It meant a lot of things some of which included poor nutrition, deliberate denial of adequate medical attention and above all humiliating treatment at the hands of prison warders.

Mr. Harlley appeared before the Commission on Wednesday, 17^th May 1967 at 11.15am.

Your full name, please. (Witness

Witness: John William Kofi Harlley, Inspector-General of Police and
Vice-Chairman of the National Liberation Council.

Chairman: We thank you very much for accepting our invitation to appear
before this Commission. There are some one or two questions which have
cropped up during the course of our enquiry and on which we like to have your
views. We have prepared some notes on them which we would like you to go
through before.

Mr. Cameron: We have heard, Sir, that during the time of the late Director
of Prisons you actually overheard verbal instructions being given to feed
detainees on garri and water only, no visits were to be paid to them. Visiting
Committees were to be abolished and other instructions pertaining to their
treatment. Unfortunately we have not found any written instruction, and we
would be most grateful if you could verify them. The only document we have
is a letter from a former Director of Prisons, seeking confirmation from the
Ministry of the Interior about detainees being served with garri and water,
but to which there was no reply.

Witness: Up to the 8th of January, 1964, I was Head of the Special
Branch, and in that capacity I was in close contact with the ex-President.

Chairman: What is Special Branch?

Witness: It is the intelligence unit of the Police Service. In the course of
my duty I knew that Dr. Danquah was taken into custody under the P.D.A.
on 1st October, 1961, and was released on 30th June, 1962.

Chairman: Did you know the reason why he was sent to prison?
Witness: No, I didn’t know. On 2nd July, 1962, there was a presentation
of Lenin Peace Prize to the ex-President, and I accompanied him (ex-President)
to the State House for the function. I was very much surprised to see Dr.
Danquah there, apparently having been invited. After the ceremony Dr.
Danquah advanced and shook hands warmly with the ex-President. When we
returned to the Flagstaff House, however, the ex-President angrily asked
whether I saw Dr. Danquah shake hands with him, and I said yes. He then
went on to say that Dr. Danquah looked stronger than he was. Wondering
why Dr. Danquah who had been released from custody just a couple of days
before should be so strong, the ex-President said that the prison officials had
been feeding detainees on eggs and bacon. Afterwards the ex-President sum-
moned me, my predecessor, Mr. Madjitey, the then Minister of the Interior,
Mr. Kwaku Boateng, the then Director of Prisons and his Deputy, Mr. Moses
and the late Abban, to the Flagstaff House, and he angrily repeated what he
had said earlier on, that Dr. Danquah and the other detainees were being fed
on sumptuous food, and that henceforth detainees should be fed on garri, salt,
and water only.  

 

Chairman: This was all verbal, wasn’t it?

. Witness: Yes, verbal.

,

Chairman: And nothing of it was put on paper.

Witness: No. On 29th August, 1962, Tawiah Adamafio, Ako Adjei, and
;’ some others were taken into detention, and in the afternoon of that same day
the ex-President ordered another meeting at which Mr. Kwaku Boateng,
Mr. Moses, and I were there. He then stressed again that those who had been
;’ taken in should be fed on garri and water and should be taken to Condemned
ceIls and chained.

Chairman: The Prisons Department has regulations governing the treat-
ment of prisoners, and this order would appear to contravene those regulations.

t””            Witness: That is correct, Sir.

Chairman: Mr. Moses was the Director of Prisons at the time and he
… wrote to the Ministry of the Interior for a written confirmation on the’ verbal
, instruction about garri and water. Do you know whether any written reply

“went from the Ministry to Mr. Moses? (Mr. Moses’ letter read).

‘! ”

, Witness: I would normally not expect Mr. Kwaku Boateng to put down

. anything about this in writing. I know he was a person who never liked to take

~ any responsibility for instructions he gave, and I had been reporting it to the
ex-President hence he (Mr. Kwaku Boateng) was transferred from the Interior
Ministry.

Talking about Dr. Danquah, since that time 1 clearly noticed that the
ex-President was determined to have him (Dr. Danquah) detained again; for
on 5th October, 1962, the ex-President called me to Flagstaff House and
handed me a letter written by Dr. Danquah dated 22nd September, 1962,
instructing me to detain Dr. Danquah for subversion. When I studied the
document -r didn’t find it to be subversive, so I sent for him, had him interro-
gated, and allowed him to go home. Later on I went and reported to the
ex-President that it was unlawful to take Dr. Danquah into custody because I
had found out that he was innocent of the allegation.

Mr. Acquah: Did you expect any disciplinary action taken against you
for not obeying the ex-President’s instructions?

Witness: No, we were used to each other so I didn’t expect anything of the
sort. He would be angry, but later on would calm down.

Mr. Acquah: Yes, this is how a normal, responsible officer should work
with his boss. When his boss gives an order which he knows to be unlawful, the
officer is duty-bound to draw the attention of his boss to it and should not be
afraid of doing that. Your case with the ex-President is interesting to us, because
we have found other officers who are not able to do that.

Witness: Two days after the second attempt on his life by the late Con-
stable Ametewee, the ex-President verbally instructed me to be in charge of the
interrogation unit at the Burma Camp, investigating the attempt on the ex-
President’s life. When I arrived at the Burma Camp I saw Dr. Danquah among
those brought there for interrogation. After interrogating him (Dr. Danquah)
I concluded that he was innocent of the incident, so I released him and duly
reported it to the ex-President. On the 8th of January, 1964, I was made the
Acting Commissioner of Police, and I learnt later on that Dr. Danquah had
been arrested and sent to detention, where he remained and died.

Chairman: Would you not know of Dr. Danquah’s arrest and detention?!

Witness: At that time the Police Service was divided up into different units,
so Dr. Danquah’s arrest was not done by the Police.

Mr. Cameron: According to the evidence we have had, the Police Service
was divided into three parts and Special Branch being amalgamated with
the other security service so it is possible that the Commissioner of Police
would not know anything about the arrest of Dr. Danquah.

Mrs. Bartlett-Vanderpuije: Who succeeded you as Head of the Special

Branch?

Witness: Mr. Ben Fodjuor.

Chairman: Would the division of the Police Service not affect its morale?
Witness: Yes, it did greatly affect the Service. Things became very difficult

indeed to manage, as politicians went about ordering the detention of people
by the Police. This made me issue instructions that no police officer should
detain any person without my authority, and as a result of this many police
officers who were unco-operative were expelled from the Service.

Mr. Acquah: In this case you would have expelled those police officers
who detained a lot of people at Bolgatanga and Bawku if their action had
come to your notice.

Witness: Unfortunately it was my predecessor, Mr. Madjitey, who, soon
after the Kulungugu bomb incident, led some police officers there to do the
arrest and detention. Although I had nothing to do about it directly, I wrote
several letters about the release of those detainees there, but to which I had
no replies, or promises which were never fulfilled. In addition to the move
I made about it, the medical officer in that area kept on reporting that condi-
tions prevailing in the detention camp there were affecting the health of not
only the detainees but the police officers who were guarding them, because
they had no proper accommodation and they had to sleep on blankets spread
on the bare floor.

(Dr. Danquah‘s letter dated 22nd September, 1962, addressed to the ex–

President was read)                                                                                                                                                 .

Mr. Acquah: The importance in this particular case was your refusal to carry
out an order which you considered unlawful, after studying this document
and concluding that there was nothing subversive about it. I think the fact
should be made clear. Not many people can be so bold in the performance of
their duties. If officers would be so responsible and be guided by the duty of
their office, this country would be saved from a lot of misfortune.

Witness: I should say that I hold a stronger view than that. If police
officers had been well educated in their duty during the pre-Independence
days, it would have made it possible for the disbanded C.P.P. and the opposi-
tion to be heard; but the fact was that the disbanded C.P.P. was allowed a
hearing by the people whereas the opposition suffered acts of hooliganism
organised against it with the connivance of the police.

Mr. Acquah: In support of what you have said, Sir, we see that you are
taking measures to raise the standard of the police by bringing in fresh blood.
In the course of our enquiry we have found that the standard of education
of the prison officers is very, very poor indeed. We also uphold the view that
the Prisons Service is a very important arm of the administration of justice
in this country, and the standard of education of its officers should be very paramount.

By A.R. Gomda