He said, looking at the profile of COP Dampare, he felt inspired by how he has risen through the ranks from a constable to an Inspector General of the service in such a short spate of time. He said, as a ‘barracks boy’ himself, it is rare to see a police man start from such a lowly rank to the apex in a short time of three decades in the police service.
Mr Basintale said this feat will inspire a lot of police men, especially the junior ones in the service to emulate such a distinguished feat in the service.
He however pointed out that it is also a challenge to the new acting police chief to live up to the mantle now that the junior police officers are looking up to him for inspiration by bringing honor and repute to the police badge by not kowtowing to the whims of his appointer .
Mr Basintale also added that the acting IGP Dampare is assuming a position that has been widely criticized for the surge in crime in the country and also the lack of prosecuting criminals that smack of the lack of fairness in the country.
He entreated the new acting IGP to remember that crime has no expiry date, hence must endeavor to bring finality to criminal cases that have been left unsolved in ‘limbo’. He said such pertinent crime that needs finality like the Techiman South election violence, the Asawase killings and the one he was personally in the know about according to Kennedy Agyapong, the murder of the lawmaker J.B. Danquah and the gruesome murder of Ahmed Suale in the country.
Mr Basintale made these comments in an interview with Johnnie Hughes on the New Day show on TV3, Thursday, July 22.
He was speaking on the back of the appointment of the new acting Inspector General of Police(IGP) COP George Akuffo Dampare by President Akufo-Addo on Wednesday, July 21.
Mr Basintale said “I felt inspired, because I have lived partially in the police barracks. I know what it means for a police man to have risen from being a constable to an IGP, it is very rare in our part of the world in such a short time in thirty years. It’s rare but I think it will inspire a lot of young officers down there.
“But it’s a challenge to him, people are looking up to him now and I think there are junior officers who would also wish to rise to that rank. I don’t think that after these years of sacrifice he would finally become an IGP just to betray the badge by kowtowing to his appointers. But then critically, COP Dampare assumes an office that has been widely criticized in recent past for the uprising of criminal cases in the country, the lack of police prosecutions and fairness against the citizenry.
“But COP Dampare as we know in popular parlance, crime has no expiry date, first of all, his first job is to show trust and good faith in investigating matters that up to date are still in limbo. For example the Asawase killings, no prosecution has been done in that matter, the people are still there, Techiman South and what have you, the spontaneous shooting of unarmed citizens, the murder of my brother Ahmed Suale and the one he is part and parcel of, the murder of our MP J.B. Danquah, which Mr Kennedy Agyapong clearly stated that on live TV that Mr Dampare is fully in the know so I think that one of the first steps to vindicate himself is to investigate to bring the perpetrators to book”, he posited.
He however pointed out that under the present circumstances, it will be very difficult for the new IGP to succeed under the NPP-led government if Vice President Mahamadu Bawumia is the chair of the Police Council.
On his part, the former Municipal Chief Executive of Akuapem North Dennis Miracles Aboagye described COP Dampare as an ‘all-rounder’ considering his pedigree in the service, making him really qualified to the task and mantle as the acting Inspector General of Police.
By Barima Kwabena Yeboah|3news.com|Ghana
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