‘Dampare being good not enough; Mahama should be allowed to choose preferred IGP’ — Manasseh Azure

Ghanaian investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni has weighed in on the debate over whether Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr. George Akuffo Dampare should be replaced or retained.

Some notable figures, including IMANI Africa Founding President Franklin Cudjoe and political scientist Professor Ransford Gyampo, have urged President John Dramani Mahama to keep Dampare in office.

Supporters of the IGP cite his impressive performance and integrity as reasons for his retention.

However, sharing his perspective, Manasseh Azure argued that the President should have the freedom to appoint his preferred IGP due to the sensitivity of the position.

“The president should be allowed to decide. If he wants to maintain Dampare, it is his choice. If he wants someone else, he should be free to do so.

“The IGP, like the CDS of the Ghana Armed Forces, is a sensitive security position, and a president should choose those he wants to work with,” he wrote in a social media post on Thursday, March 13.

Manasseh emphasized that at the highest level of security decision-making, multiple factors influence leadership choices.

Until a non-partisan agreement is reached on how security chiefs should be selected, a sitting President, according to Manasseh, should not be forced to work with security heads appointed by political opponents.

“The argument that Dampare is a good man is not enough. What if he were a bad man? Would IMANI have said he should be sacked? And who decides whether someone is good or bad?

“One man’s best IGP may be another’s worst. If Mahama wants Dampare, I have no problem, but we should not force his hands,” he stressed.