Samuel Atta Akyea
The chairman of the parliamentary committee investigating the leaked audio tape of an alleged scheme to depose the Inspector General, Samuel Atta Akyea, has indicated that the tape that went viral and served as the basis for the Speaker’s referral appears doctored.
He said a second audio tape, which was handed over to the committee by one of the witnesses, Daniel Bugri Naabu, looks like the full complement of the conversation that ensued among the three persons captured on the tape.
Answering questions from the media in Parliament yesterday after an in-camera session with the witnesses, Mr. Atta Akyea noted, “It seems to be the case because the second tape is one which is a very long discussion which I can come to some understanding that they do not dispute.”
“The audio that went viral was the basis for the Speaker to make the referral to the committee. You might want to call it the first tape.
“When we played out the first tape too, the witnesses said the tape is incomplete; it’s been truncated, it’s been edited. If you could remember, we were asking which ones to validate and they said their voices are valid here but the rest of them disagree,” he recounted.
The committee chairman continued, “Then we got a second tape which is supposed to be the full complement of the conversation that chief Bugri Naabu, Supt Asare and COP Mensah had at Bugri Naabu’s office in Osu.”
“It seems to be the case because the second tape is one which is a very long discussion which I can come to some understanding that they do not dispute,” he stressed.
Second Tape
He added, “The first tape which was in the public domain was challenged that it didn’t represent the full conversation that Chief Bugri Naabu had with Superintendent Asare and COP Mensah.”
“And that has necessitated that we should receive the full tape. It is the thing that we were bringing the attention of the witnesses to and we dilated on it.
“As a matter of fact, we have given the second tape to them in advance, but they were complaining they needed the transcription as well. So we gave the transcription to them,” he said.
Mr. Atta Akyea stated that because of the nature of what was playing out in the investigation processes, members of the committee wanted to do a thorough job and end it quickly.
“The nation cannot be chewing on this matter too long. It has a bearing on the security of this country – the head of internal security, Inspector General of Police, is part of what we are trying to interrogate and we should end it as quickly as possible,” he asserted.
He disclosed that the case had been adjourned to October 2, 2023 and would continue till October 5, 2024 without fail.
“There is going to be a continuous of proceedings for five days by which time we would probably, holding all factors constant, conclude the proceedings and be able to write our report,” he posited.
In-camera Sitting
On the in-camera sitting, Mr. Atta Akyea said the first person the committee called upon was the Minister for National Security, Albert Kan-Dapaah.
“The reason why we called him is that Supt. Asare had confessed they had appeared before the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB). So, we will not do a shoddy job by not calling the Minister who has superintendence over that bureau. So he came to say indeed and in fact the NIB called Supt. Asare and the rest of them in relation to the same leaked tape, and they have done a lot of work on it,” he explained.
According to him, the National Security Minister corroborated the account of Supt. Asare, except that he did not disclose details of the interim report handed over to him by the NIB.
“Because if you care to know, it’s a national security document not de-classified and in terms of law and the constitution, there is no way he would share it with us,” the chairman intimated.
He said present at the in-camera hearing were Supt. George Asare, COP George Alex Mensah and Chief Bugri Naabu as well as their lawyers.
“The only person who couldn’t show up was the IGP; although he was penciled for today. The IGP was attending to some matter of national importance, and we said look, given all the circumstances, we just asked Chief Bugri Naabu a few questions and we adjourned,” he submitted.
“They agreed with what the National Security Minister said and he was accordingly discharged, except that he tended a statement he gave to the committee,” he said.
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House