The Chairman of the ad hoc committee set up to investigate a leaked tape regarding a plot to remove the IGP from office, Samuel Atta Akyea, criticized the committee’s report as anaemic and lacking substance for Parliamentary action.
The unsigned report from the Chairman indicated that the three senior police officers—COP Alex George Mensah, Supt. George Lysander Asare, and Supt. Emmanuel Eric Gyebi—had misconducted themselves, committing a major offence under Police regulations, and should be sanctioned according to Police disciplinary procedures.
However, during a debate on the floor of Parliament, Chairman Samuel Atta Akyea urged the house to reject the committee’s report, citing its lack of logical foundation.
“I want to submit with the greatest of respect that this report reduced parliament and the good committee of parliament to a conveyor belt that anything they drop on it should go. You do not just listen to people who come before a committee and that will bring you to a conclusion of the matter. You delve into the matters. A committee of parliament is not a conveyor belt. They’re supposed to delve into this matter. And on that showing, this report is so anaemic.”
“It lacks substance for plenary to find, with the greatest of respect any decision on it and to uphold this report. Yes. And I urge this House to reject this report because there is no foundation of evidence for this report. And we shouldn’t make a resolution based on such an anaemic report,” he explained.
The Vice Chairman of the ad hoc committee, James Agalga, responded by stating that such comments are a misrepresentation of the facts by the Chairman of the committee.
“Mr Speaker, quite a number of issues have been raised, which constitutes a gross misrepresentation of the facts and of the report…in the course of the committee’s deliberations, the chairman had the opportunity to raise the arguments that he has canvassed before this house this evening that we could not elevate conspiracy to the level of our criminal jurisprudence under section 23 of the criminal and other offences act and we all agreed as a result of that intervention,” he stated.
“Mr Speaker, if you look at the report, we did not use the definition of conspiracy under section 23 of the Criminal and Other Offenses Act. We borrowed the dictionary meaning of conspiracy and dealt with the matter as such,” he stated.
