Ghana police chief accuses British ambassador of interference in state issues

Ghana’s police chief, George Dampare, has requested the British Excessive Commissioner to Ghana, Harriet Thompson, to “keep inside the limits of what issues her.”

Mr Dampare stated this in a letter to the British diplomat after she publicly commented on the arrest of Oliver Barker-Vormawor, the FixTheCountry convener.

Ms Thompson on Could 17 in a tweet stated, “Oliver Barker-Vormawor, convener a #FixTheCountry motion, arrested once more, I perceive for a motoring offence on his strategy to courtroom. I’ll have an interest to see the place this goes….”

Based on the police’s letter to the envoy, the tweet was “a violation of the Vienna Conference on Diplomatic Relations, 1961 which enjoins diplomatic missions to not intervene within the inner affairs of their host nation.”

He added that the police wouldn’t have responded to Ms Thompson’s tweet which was “clearly created from a biased and uninformed place.”

“Nonetheless, we’ve got learnt from earlier, painful expertise that it has not been useful to disregard such misguided, unwarranted, and biased feedback meant to tarnish the status of the Ghana Police Service and that of our Nation,” Mr Dampare stated.

Mr Barker-Vormawors, who’s at present engaged on doctoral analysis with the College of Regulation on the College of Cambridge within the UK, was first arrested on February 11, at Kotoka Worldwide Airport and charged with “offensive conduct conducive to breaches of the peace.”

The costs in opposition to Mr Barker-Vormawors have been additional prolonged to incorporate treason in opposition to the state, which led to detention for a month.

He was anticipated in courtroom on April 26 to face treason expenses, however the case has now been pushed again a month because the prosecution says they want extra time to collect proof.

What led to Ms Thompson’s tweet was that Mr Barker-Vormawors whereas on his strategy to courtroom dedicated a visitors offence and was arrested once more.

“Your Excellency, the truth that you used the phrase ‘arrested once more’, we imagine, should imply you have been making reference to the earlier events Mr Barker-Vormawor was arrested for threatening the safety of the State, and not too long ago for motor visitors offences. We intend subsequently, to deal with each points on this letter,” Mr Dampare stated within the letter.

“Since you could be unaware of the costs in opposition to the particular person of curiosity in your tweet, we’re completely satisfied to offer you some background. Amongst different issues, in February this yr, Mr Barker-Vormawor threatened the safety of the State by categorically stating his intention to stage a coup d’etat and trigger instability within the nation if the Military, which he known as ‘ineffective’, was unable to take action. These identical threats have subsequently been repeated by Mr Barker-Vormawor on his social media handles.”

Mr Dampare additionally posed quite a few inquiries to the envoy over what he stated was meddling within the inner affairs of Ghana.

He ended his letter recommending a Ghanian adage which implies, “study to maintain inside the limits of what issues you.”

In response to the letter, Ms Thompson in an interview with GHOne TV on Tuesday stated her tweet was misunderstood.

“It’s clear from the response that it has not been obtained in the best way that it was meant. I used to be not after a response from the IGP in any respect, after I touch upon social media, I touch upon all kinds of issues which I’m all in favour of,” Ghanaweb quoted her as saying.

She famous that “Ghana is a peace-loving nation the place individuals do have the fitting to precise themselves, the place they do have the fitting to return and protest issues that matter to them.”

She stated {that a} tweet like hers, “is just not going to be the factor that can get individuals onto the streets, in my opinion. If I had thought that there was the remotest likelihood of that, I wouldn’t be tweeting issues like that. That’s clearly not my intention.”

The nation’s Ministry of Overseas Affairs and Regional Integration, in a press launch responding to the general public debate that has adopted the IGP’s letter, stated it needs to stay circumspect on its pronouncements on the matter.

Based on the press launch, the ministry has “initiated contact with each the British Excessive Commissioner and Inspector-Normal of Police (IGP) to resolve the difficulty at stake.”

Ghanaians react

Ghanaians have reacted in a number of methods to what might appear to be an altercation between the British diplomatic mission and the Ghana police.

Talking to JoySMS on Wednesday, Kwesi Aning, the director of the College of Tutorial Affairs & Analysis on the Kofi Annan Worldwide Peacekeeping Coaching Centre (KAIPTC), stated the letter is “a superb historic doc that others should take a cue from.”

“The IGP’s letter to the British Excessive Commissioner was effectively performed and straight to the purpose, elevating his issues about the best way the police is dealing with a specific situation that tangentially additionally impacts different points,” he stated.

In distinction, Sammy Gyamfi, the nationwide communications officer of the Nationwide Democratic Congress, in a Twitter put up stated the police chief’s letter to Ms Thompson, was in very dangerous style and has the potential of undermining Ghana’s long-standing diplomatic relations with the UK.

“The vanity and intolerance displayed by the IGP in his response to a innocent tweet by the British Excessive Commissioner to Ghana is disgusting to say the least,” he stated.

Equally, Mr Barker-Vormawors whose arrest led to the present occasions in a Fb put up wrote, “Who the Gods need to kill, they first make mad. Dampare paaa. Eh, so what went improper with this man?”

“Ghana paa is a live performance nation, ooo. Herh!”