The Inspector General of Police, Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, has told the British High Commissioner, Harriet Thompson, to stay clear of Ghana’s internal matters, especially those that she is not well informed on.
Ms. Thomspon recently commented on the arrest of # FixTheCountry lead convenor Oliver Barker-Vormawor for some traffic violations.
On May 17th, 2022, she tweeted that:
I understand Oliver Barker Vormawor, convener of the #FixTheCountry movement, was arrested again, this time for a motoring offence on his way to court. I’ll be interested to see where this goes.
But responding to her tweet, the IGP pointed out that her tweet is a “violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961, which enjoins foreign missions not to interfere with the internal affairs of their host country.”
Dr. Dampare indicated that usually he would not have responded to the statement, but “previous painful experience” makes it unhelpful to ignore such “misguided, unwarranted and biased comments intended to tarnish the reputation of the Ghana Police Service” and that of Ghana.
He further stated that Mr. Barker-Vormawor’s arrests had always followed due process. The IGP made special reference to “coup statements” by Mr. Barker-Vormawor as having the tendency to breach the peace and security of the State. He noted that Mr. Vormawor’s latest arrest bordered on a road traffic infraction for which several other drivers were arrested. He asked why Ms. Thompson did not comment on those ones.
Furthermore, Dr. Dampare posed several questions to the High Commission to reflect on, mainly bordering on security and road traffic matters.
Dr. Dampare admonished the British High Commissioner with the popular local cliché: “Di wo fie asem; to wit, learn to keep within the limits of what concerns you.”
In the wake of the IGP’s reply, social media has been very active with some sections of the populace praising him for putting the High Commissioner in her rightful place and others critiquing the response as trivial.
