Veep Orders Polices Chief's Transfer

THE Vice President, Alhaji Aliu Mahama has ordered the immediate transfer of the Chief Inspector of Police at Yeji in the Brong Ahafo Region, for failing to find suspects in a suspected arson case.

And within days, a letter to that effect was dispatched from the Police Authorities, giving the Police Chief, 24-hours to vacate the town with family and belongings.

Sources in Yeji told the 'Ghana Palaver' that the Vice President's order was politically motivated and fuelled by the fact that the officer involved is an Ewe from the Volta Region.

According to the sources, there was a fire outbreak at the recently refurbished NPP Youth Office around 2.00 a.m. on November 2, 2004, which affected many items.

The NPP Youth reported the case to the Yeji Police, citing the NDC youth in town as suspects.

Following the report, a CID Sergeant was detailed on the case in the morning, who visited the scene, came to write his report in the Station Dairy and set out investigations.

The following day, the Vice President and his entourage arrived in the town on a campaign tour and was apparently briefed by the constituency executives about the incident.

Our sources say, Alhaji Mahama got infuriated by the news and summoned Chief Inspector Dosso to the local Roman Catholic Hospital, where he confronted him in the presence of the Acting Regional Police Commander, as to why he had not taken action on the arson case.

Inspector Dosso's explanation that nobody was found on the scene and thus investigations were on-going to apprehend the culprits, did not please the Vice President.

According to our sources, the Vice President then asked the Inspector which part of Ghana he comes from and the reply that he comes from the Volta Region, brought out the exclamation "You see!" from those around.

The Vice President, there and then said he would deal with Inspector Dosso because he has NDC sympathies. He re-echoed that "fathwa" when he later mounted a political platform to address supporters of his party.

'Ghana Palaver' enquiries on the fate of Inspector Dosso have revealed that the police officer has indeed been served a transfer letter to leave Yeji for an unknown destination. Calls to 0568-which go to the Yeji Police are treated with fear since no one wants to put his neck on the line.

It will be recalled that a similar fate befell a Police Officer in Cape Coast, who was pencilled by NPP executives in that constituency to be an NDC man. He was immediately transferred to Ada when they petitioned the Police Authorities.

Again the Palaver reported the assault on a Prestea Police Officer who was beaten up by an NPP MP and a mob. No action has since been taken on the matter.