Retired Commissioner of Police (COP) George Alex Mensah has questioned whether it should be considered an offence to have a private conversation with someone.

Speaking on JoyNews’ PM Express, COP Mensah (Rtd) stressed that the focus should be on identifying the individual responsible for recording and leaking the conversation.

“Is it an offense to have a private conversation with somebody else? Then we should look for the person who recorded and brought it out; he is the one who has caused the problem. He is the person who should be charged, not the one who had the conversation," he said interview on Monday.

Accusations of political bias and a leaked private conversation involving COP Mensah (Rtd) have sparked controversy and debates about professional conduct within the Ghana Police Service.

The leaked conversation, which has been the subject of intense public scrutiny, featured him, another senior police officer, Superintendent George Asare, together with a former Northern Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, Bugri Naabu, who has admitted to recording the conversation.

Read Also: Leaked tape scandal has been a blessing to me – COP Alex Mensah

During the conversation, COP Mensah (Rtd) was heard running down IGP George Dampare's administration, and suggesting that he was not going to help the governing party if he was to stay in office till the 2024 elections.

However, COP Mensah (Rtd) maintains that respecting the privacy of conversations is important, adding that private conversations should remain private.

“If private conversations are going to come out, then you’ll dismiss everybody [in the service]. We have to be very careful because private conversations are private conversations and if you illegally record them and take them to court they will be thrown out,” he told host Evans Mensah.

Read Also: Ghana Police Service cannot do anything to me – COP Alex Mensah (RTD)

When asked if other police officers have been having political conversations, he acknowledged that he had not personally heard of such conversations but added, "I cannot say that we don't have such conversations. The difference here is nobody has recorded anybody to bring it out."

After the tape was released into the public domain, COP Alex Mensah (Rtd) has been appearing before a parliamentary committee tasked with investigating the contents on the tape, where he made further damning claims about the IGP, describing him as the worst IGP the service has ever had.

The parliamentary committee is yet to submit its report after interrogating the parties in the matter including the IGP, the now retired COP Alex Mensah.