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25.03.2017 Opinion

Harlley Appears Before the Prisons Commission

By A.R. Gomda
Harlley Appears Before the Prisons Commission
25.03.2017 LISTEN

As the Inspector General of Police and Deputy Chairman of the National Liberation Council John William Kofi Harlley's appearance before the Prisons Commission set up by the junta following the death of Dr. J.B Danquah and the inhuman conditions prevailing at the Nsawam Medium Security Prison was significant.

He knew a lot of things and his no-disclosures went a long way in affording us better knowledge about what being a political prisoner meant under the obnoxious Preventive Detention Act.

It meant a lot of things some of which included poor nutrition, deliberate denial of adequate medical attention and above all humiliating treatment at the hands of prison warders.

Mr. Harlley appeared before the Commission on Wednesday, 17th May 1967 at 11.15am.

Your full name, please. (Witness

Witness: John William Kofi Harlley, Inspector-General of Police and

Vice-Chairman of the National Liberation Council.
Chairman: We thank you very much for accepting our invitation to appear

before this Commission. There are some one or two questions which have

cropped up during the course of our enquiry and on which we like to have your

views. We have prepared some notes on them which we would like you to go

through before.
Mr. Cameron: We have heard, Sir, that during the time of the late Director

of Prisons you actually overheard verbal instructions being given to feed

detainees on garri and water only, no visits were to be paid to them. Visiting

Committees were to be abolished and other instructions pertaining to their

treatment. Unfortunately we have not found any written instruction, and we

would be most grateful if you could verify them. The only document we have

is a letter from a former Director of Prisons, seeking confirmation from the

Ministry of the Interior about detainees being served with garri and water,

but to which there was no reply.
Witness: Up to the 8th of January, 1964, I was Head of the Special

Branch, and in that capacity I was in close contact with the ex-President.

Chairman: What is Special Branch?
Witness: It is the intelligence unit of the Police Service. In the course of

my duty I knew that Dr. Danquah was taken into custody under the P.D.A.

on 1st October, 1961, and was released on 30th June, 1962.

Chairman: Did you know the reason why he was sent to prison?

Witness: No, I didn’t know. On 2nd July, 1962, there was a presentation

of Lenin Peace Prize to the ex-President, and I accompanied him (ex-President)

to the State House for the function. I was very much surprised to see Dr.

Danquah there, apparently having been invited. After the ceremony Dr.

Danquah advanced and shook hands warmly with the ex-President. When we

returned to the Flagstaff House, however, the ex-President angrily asked

whether I saw Dr. Danquah shake hands with him, and I said yes. He then

went on to say that Dr. Danquah looked stronger than he was. Wondering

why Dr. Danquah who had been released from custody just a couple of days

before should be so strong, the ex-President said that the prison officials had

been feeding detainees on eggs and bacon. Afterwards the ex-President sum-

moned me, my predecessor, Mr. Madjitey, the then Minister of the Interior,

Mr. Kwaku Boateng, the then Director of Prisons and his Deputy, Mr. Moses

and the late Abban, to the Flagstaff House, and he angrily repeated what he

had said earlier on, that Dr. Danquah and the other detainees were being fed

on sumptuous food, and that henceforth detainees should be fed on garri, salt,

and water only.  
Chairman: This was all verbal, wasn’t it?
. Witness: Yes, verbal.
Chairman: And nothing of it was put on paper.
Witness: No. On 29th August, 1962, Tawiah Adamafio, Ako Adjei, and

;’ some others were taken into detention, and in the afternoon of that same day

the ex-President ordered another meeting at which Mr. Kwaku Boateng,

Mr. Moses, and I were there. He then stressed again that those who had been

;’ taken in should be fed on garri and water and should be taken to Condemned

ceIls and chained.
Chairman: The Prisons Department has regulations governing the treat-

ment of prisoners, and this order would appear to contravene those regulations.

t””            Witness: That is correct, Sir.

Chairman: Mr. Moses was the Director of Prisons at the time and he

… wrote to the Ministry of the Interior for a written confirmation on the’ verbal

, instruction about garri and water. Do you know whether any written reply

“went from the Ministry to Mr. Moses? (Mr. Moses’ letter read).

‘! ”
, Witness: I would normally not expect Mr. Kwaku Boateng to put down

. anything about this in writing. I know he was a person who never liked to take

~ any responsibility for instructions he gave, and I had been reporting it to the

ex-President hence he (Mr. Kwaku Boateng) was transferred from the Interior

Ministry.
Talking about Dr. Danquah, since that time 1 clearly noticed that the

ex-President was determined to have him (Dr. Danquah) detained again; for

on 5th October, 1962, the ex-President called me to Flagstaff House and

handed me a letter written by Dr. Danquah dated 22nd September, 1962,

instructing me to detain Dr. Danquah for subversion. When I studied the

document -r didn’t find it to be subversive, so I sent for him, had him interro-

gated, and allowed him to go home. Later on I went and reported to the

ex-President that it was unlawful to take Dr. Danquah into custody because I

had found out that he was innocent of the allegation.

Mr. Acquah: Did you expect any disciplinary action taken against you

for not obeying the ex-President’s instructions?

Witness: No, we were used to each other so I didn’t expect anything of the

sort. He would be angry, but later on would calm down.

Mr. Acquah: Yes, this is how a normal, responsible officer should work

with his boss. When his boss gives an order which he knows to be unlawful, the

officer is duty-bound to draw the attention of his boss to it and should not be

afraid of doing that. Your case with the ex-President is interesting to us, because

we have found other officers who are not able to do that.

Witness: Two days after the second attempt on his life by the late Con-

stable Ametewee, the ex-President verbally instructed me to be in charge of the

interrogation unit at the Burma Camp, investigating the attempt on the ex-

President’s life. When I arrived at the Burma Camp I saw Dr. Danquah among

those brought there for interrogation. After interrogating him (Dr. Danquah)

I concluded that he was innocent of the incident, so I released him and duly

reported it to the ex-President. On the 8th of January, 1964, I was made the

Acting Commissioner of Police, and I learnt later on that Dr. Danquah had

been arrested and sent to detention, where he remained and died.

Chairman: Would you not know of Dr. Danquah’s arrest and detention?!

Witness: At that time the Police Service was divided up into different units,

so Dr. Danquah’s arrest was not done by the Police.

Mr. Cameron: According to the evidence we have had, the Police Service

was divided into three parts and Special Branch being amalgamated with

the other security service so it is possible that the Commissioner of Police

would not know anything about the arrest of Dr. Danquah.

Mrs. Bartlett-Vanderpuije: Who succeeded you as Head of the Special

Branch?
Witness: Mr. Ben Fodjuor.
Chairman: Would the division of the Police Service not affect its morale?

Witness: Yes, it did greatly affect the Service. Things became very difficult

indeed to manage, as politicians went about ordering the detention of people

by the Police. This made me issue instructions that no police officer should

detain any person without my authority, and as a result of this many police

officers who were unco-operative were expelled from the Service.

Mr. Acquah: In this case you would have expelled those police officers

who detained a lot of people at Bolgatanga and Bawku if their action had

come to your notice.
Witness: Unfortunately it was my predecessor, Mr. Madjitey, who, soon

after the Kulungugu bomb incident, led some police officers there to do the

arrest and detention. Although I had nothing to do about it directly, I wrote

several letters about the release of those detainees there, but to which I had

no replies, or promises which were never fulfilled. In addition to the move

I made about it, the medical officer in that area kept on reporting that condi-

tions prevailing in the detention camp there were affecting the health of not

only the detainees but the police officers who were guarding them, because

they had no proper accommodation and they had to sleep on blankets spread

on the bare floor.
(Dr. Danquah‘s letter dated 22nd September, 1962, addressed to the ex

President was read)                                                                                                                                                 .

Mr. Acquah: The importance in this particular case was your refusal to carry

out an order which you considered unlawful, after studying this document

and concluding that there was nothing subversive about it. I think the fact

should be made clear. Not many people can be so bold in the performance of

their duties. If officers would be so responsible and be guided by the duty of

their office, this country would be saved from a lot of misfortune.

Witness: I should say that I hold a stronger view than that. If police

officers had been well educated in their duty during the pre-Independence

days, it would have made it possible for the disbanded C.P.P. and the opposi-

tion to be heard; but the fact was that the disbanded C.P.P. was allowed a

hearing by the people whereas the opposition suffered acts of hooliganism

organised against it with the connivance of the police.

Mr. Acquah: In support of what you have said, Sir, we see that you are

taking measures to raise the standard of the police by bringing in fresh blood.

In the course of our enquiry we have found that the standard of education

of the prison officers is very, very poor indeed. We also uphold the view that

the Prisons Service is a very important arm of the administration of justice

in this country, and the standard of education of its officers should be very paramount.

By A.R. Gomda

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