Story: Albert K. Salia in Accra, Zakaria Alhassan in Tamale
TWO security analysts have described the action of the Northern Regional Minister, Mr Stephen Nayina, of sacking the Regional Police Commander, DCOP Ofosu Mensah-Gyeabour, out of a Regional Security Council meeting, as wrong and an abuse of office.
Dr Kwesi Aning, who is the Head of the Conflict Prevention Management and Resolution Department of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, and Mr Emmanuel Sowatey, a small arms expert, said even if the regional minister had a problem with the police commander, walking him out was not the best.
They wondered whether Mr Nayina had earlier complained to the Interior Minister and the acting Inspector-General of Police about any problems he (Nayina) was having with DCOP Mensah-Gyeabour.
The security experts were speaking in reaction to the dismissal of the Northern Regional Police Commander from a Regional Security Council meeting in Tamale on April 14, 2009 and his subsequent withdrawal by the Interior Minister and the acting IGP.
DCOP Mensah-Gyeabour was walked out of the meeting when it was discovered that he took the wind out of the sail of the regional minister to brief the media about some decisions taken to extend a one-month moratorium given all residents of Tamale to surrender their weapons.
Dr Aning said while the removal of the police commander could have been politically correct, it did not hold the key to the long-standing tension in the region.
He said the conduct of the regional minister so far clearly demonstrated his lack of understanding of the complex issues of security and suggested that Mr Nanyina be dismissed for gross incompetence in dealing with security issues in the region.
According to him, keeping the regional minister in office would not only make the work of the President difficult, but was also likely to escalate the tensions and unsettle the situation in the region.
He expressed regret that civil authority had been so abused that a competent police officer should be withdrawn from post.
According to him, the minister had failed and should be sacked.
Mr Sowatey explained that the position of the Regional Police Commander on the Regional Security Council (REGSEC) was mandated by the National Security and Intelligence Agencies Act, Act 526.
Mr Sowatey said Mr Ofosu-Gyeabour’s reputation and career had been dented by the action, which would make every minister or his subordinates not to trust him in whatever position.
He wondered whether prior to the incident, Mr Nayina had complained to the Interior Minister or the Inspector-General of Police about the conduct of Mr Ofosu-Gyeabour and what their reactions were.
Mr Sowatey wondered whether the minister’s anger about the police commander was because he (police boss) was the first to break the news about weapons-buy-back programme or REGSEC had not taken any firm decision on it.
He said if it was not time for the news to be made public then Mr Nayina had a genuine reason to be bitter but his approach of resolving the problem was wrong.
Meanwhile, Zakaria Alhassan reports from Tamale that there had been mixed reactions in Tamale over the incident.
While some people accused the minister of acting in bad faith, others described the action by the commander as unethical.
According to a retired military officer, Capt. Malik, “the manner in which the minister acted was not appropriate; he could have been more diplomatic and still has his way through. On the part of the police commander, I think he should have channelled his grievances through the appropriate quarters in the service and not be on the airwaves the manner he acted”.
A teacher, Mrs Comfort Abu, was not happy about the way the issue was managed. “The matter bordered on the security of the region and so the minister and the commander should have handled it more maturely than the way they did. It sends bad signals to the youth.”
“For me, the commander did not act professionally by disclosing to the press matters the REGSEC had discussed and agreed to unveil to the public the following day; he took the wind out of the sail of the minister and that might have angered the latter,” Abdul-Rahman Kadir opined.
A student, Hamdiya Mohammed, was also not glad that the minister “openly embarrassed the police boss in the midst of his colleagues; Mr Nayina could have handled it in a more diplomatic way”.
“The minister’s action was long overdue; the commander should have been transferred from the region after the election since some people in the metropolis have been suspecting his loyalty to the current government,” a trader, Alhaji Mumuni Bashiru, claimed.
Although the commander did not deny talking to the press when the Daily Graphic contacted him, he claimed that the action by the minister was premeditated.
According to him, the minister had since his assumption of office, chastised him at the least opportunity.
He mentioned a number of issues including an accusation by the minister, during a visit to Tamale by the Vice-President, Mr John Mahama, that the police were partly responsible for the tension that had generated during the trial of the suspects connected to the last two months’ disturbances in the metropolis for levelling the same charges against all the suspects.
Mr Mensah-Gyeabour also referred to a recent case in which his men arrested somebody with two guns and a knife during a hearing of the Bimbilla Chieftaincy case at the House of Chiefs in Tamale.
He alleged that when he subsequently went to the minister’s office, he was asked by Mr Nayina to go back and find a third gun that his men allegedly confiscated from the suspect because he the minister’s information was that the guns were three and not two.
The commander further claimed that during this year’s Damba festival, the minister allegedly asked him to confiscate the drums of one of the factions in the Dagbon Chieftaincy dispute.
However, when the minister was contacted, he denied some of the allegations and added, “I never asked him to go and confiscate anybody’s drum; that is his own fabrication.”
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