COP George Alex Mensah flanked by Supt. George Asare (right) and Supt. Eric Emmanuel Gyebi (left)
Former Director-General, Technical of the Ghana Police Service, COP George Alex Mensah, yesterday admitted that his voice is on the leaked audio which is being investigated by a parliamentary committee.
He made the admission when he appeared before the seven-member bi-partisan committee investigating the leaked tape recorded by the former Northern Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Daniel Bugri Naabu.
COP Mensah, however, stated that some segments of the audio had been doctored and that he would not be able to speak to those portions.
“The audio I listened here today is an edited version of the conversation that we had, and because wholly, this audio that we listened to is not genuine,” he intimated.
Bugri Naabu
Mr. Naabu, who is the Paramount Chief of Namong in the North East Region under the skin-name Namong Daan II, earlier told the MPs at the first sitting of the committee that COP Mensah and Supt. Asare had come to complain that the IGP was not loyal to the government because he was meeting with the leader of the opposition party, ex-President John Dramani Mahama.
According to him, the two wanted him to inform the President to remove the IGP from office since he is a member of the NDC and working against the ruling party.
He said while the meeting was going on, one Gyebi, who is also a police superintendent at the Police Headquarters, spoke to him on the phone about the same subject.
While authenticating the leaked audio, he revealed that the encounter took place at his personal office in Osu, Accra, opposite the Osu Police Station.
IGP Mismanagement
COP Mensah corroborated some aspects of the chief’s statement and asserted that many serving police officers are dissatisfied with the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Dr. George Akuffo-Dampare, for his mismanagement of the service, and that any independent investigation will back up his assertion.
“The current Inspector General of Police is not managing the Police Service well. It is something I will not run away from. I will say it everywhere and anywhere I go. And you can do your own investigations, Call police officers underground and find out from them,” he stressed.
He added, “Hon. Chair, my concern was and is that as we speak, the majority of police officers are not happy. And if these same people are those who are going to police the elections, and remember, police officers vote; their wives vote, their children vote and their mother and fathers vote, and that is my concern.”
Election Mafia
COP Mensah, who is a lawyer and chartered accountant, also admitted having had discussions with Chief Bugri Naabu on mafia work in elections to obtain a specific outcome, but denied that the discussions partly centred on a plot to get the IGP removed from office.
“Mr. Chair, what I admit as correct is that I had a meeting with Mr. Bugri Naabu but we didn’t have any plan to remove the IGP because I don’t remove IGP and don’t appoint IGP,” he stated.
“I said in elections, there is always some mafia work. What do I mean by that? During elections, if you don’t provide the needed security for people to come out and vote peacefully and you allow people to come and disturb, snatch boxes at your strongholds, then you are ending in opposition,” he explained.
According to him, he has held discussions with Chief Bugri Naabu on four occasions in the former NPP Regional Chairman’s office and residence in Accra, but noted that most of them were private matters which are not meant for public consumption.
‘NDC Commissioners’
COP Mensah admitted having told Chief Bugri Naabu that the NPP was going to lose the Assin North by-election by reasoning of the posturing of the IGP, Dr. Akuffo-Dampare and some ‘NDC Commissioners’ of Police.
“Because I heard what was going on before the elections, what the police officers who had been deployed in the Assin North were doing in Assin North,” he recounted.
He said there was no bad blood between him and the IGP except professional disagreements, pointing out, “What I do is I speak my mind, whether you like it or not. If you are my boss and you do what I don’t like I will tell you. You can decide to hate me for that, but I don’t have anything personal against him.”
Supt. Gyebi
Meanwhile, one of the senior police officers involved in the leaked audio, Superintendent Emmanuel Gyebi, denied any relationship with Chief Bugri Naabu, when he appeared before the committee.
He also denied working on a pre-planned plot with two other top police officers to discuss the probable dismissal of the IGP with President Nana Akufo-Addo.
Supt Gyebi, who is the Director of the Cyber Crime Unit and Child Protection at the CID, described as “palpable lies” claims by Chief Bugri Naabu and subsequently expressed surprise at his testimony.
Supt. Asare
Due to a lack of time, the committee was unable to attend to Supt. George Asare, who was rescheduled to appear today, along with COP George Alex Mensah, who is expected to resume his evidence.
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House