Private legal practitioner, Bobby Banson says parliament’s committee tasked to probe the leaked tape on clandestine plans to remove the Inspector General of Police, should have first done a private hearing before releasing findings into the public domain.

He said the ongoing public hearing may take a toll on some police officers.

According to him, the issue surrounding the leaked tape is very delicate and is of national security importance especially since it involves the IGP, Dr. George Akuffo Dampare.

Speaking on Joy News, he explained that the public hearing may trigger the interest of many, and so publicly airing proceedings may create an impression which may be false, thereby discouraging some members of the Police Service who admire the IGP and his good work.

“You know we’re dealing with national security issues, we’re dealing with discussions that border the top hierarchy of the Ghana Police Service including the IGP. Now we know that once it’s held in the open, we cannot discount the fact that almost every police officer will be interested in the outcome.”

“Whether they are true or not, they will create perceptions, you will have people in the Police Service that will not like the IGP, you will have people within the Police Service that will like the IGP. And no matter the outcome of the probe, the consequences of it in terms of it affecting the morale of the members of the Police Service either right or wrong, cannot be whittled down,” he explained.

He said that the four witnesses who have appeared before the committee so far are all narrating their sides of the story, with the IGP being the centre of it all and the evidences that have been presented so far are also revealing other forms of information which may be true or false.

Due to this, Mr. Banson believes the committee should have first deliberated and handled the issue internally and then later when a decision is reached, the public may be involved.

“Now the publicisation of some of these comments and confessions that have appeared before the committee, whether they are true or not, would seep into a certain narrative whether for good or for bad.”

“So I was hoping that they will first have the probe not in public, but behind closed doors,” he reiterated.

 On July 25, the Speaker of Parliament named Abuakwa South MP, Samuel Atta-Akyea as the chairperson of a seven-member ad-hoc committee to probe the recently leaked controversial audio in which voices are heard clandestinely plotting to oust the Inspector General of Police, Dr. George Akuffo Dampare.

The viral audio, which revealed a supposed conspiracy by a senior police officer and a leading member of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) to remove the IGP from office, resulted in a debate on the floor of Parliament, with the Minority calling for a forensic audit.

Subsequently, the Speaker proposed the setting up of the Special Committee, and directed the committee to submit its report by September 10, 2023.