Check out Dampare’s 15 questions to the British High Commissioner on Barker-Vormawor’s arrest

In a statement dated May 17, 2022, the IGP notes that “ordinarily the Ghana Police would not have responded to a comment such as yours, obviously made from either a bias or uninformed position.”

DL News
31 May, 2022
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MarryRight Ghana

The Inspector-General of Police (IGP) George Akuffo-Dampare has responded to a May 17th  tweet by the British High Commissioner to Ghana, Harriet Thompson.

In the tweet, responding to the arrest of Oliver Vormawor for a road traffic offence,  Ms. Thompson express somewhat of a shock, indicating she would be interested to see how far the matter went. 

However, in a letter dated May 17, 2022, the IGP notes that “ordinarily the Ghana Police would not have responded to a comment such as yours, obviously made from either a bias or uninformed position.”

He describes the High Commissioner’s tweet as a violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961, which enjoins diplomatic missions not to interfere in the internal affairs of their host country. 

Per the statement, the IGP asked 15 questions, in what he describes as a reflection and appreciation of Ghana’s position on matters such as Mr. Vormawor’s arrest.

  1. Are the instances in your country where people are permitted to openly threaten the security of the state with a coup?
  2. In instances where individuals have threatened the security of a state, does your criminal justice system celebrate such persons and urge them to destabilize your country?
  3. As a foreign service officer, even though you might not have personal experience, you doubtless have access to the records of the periods of unrest and coups in Ghana; are you really wishing on us a return to those times?
  4. Are you able to direct us to instances in your country where citizens are permitted to insult, attack and incite your army, and other security apparatuses to destabilize the country?
  5. Do people get arrested for traffic offences in your country?
  6. Is it the case that a person on his or her way to a British Court cannot be pulled over for traffic offences, or any other offences for that matter?
  7. Are you still persuaded three days after your tweet that you were within the bounds of the Vienna Convention which regulates the conduct of diplomats in the countries in which they serve?
  8. Should you get involved in the domestic or internal affairs, especially security issues of the sovereign state in which your serving as a diplomat?
  9. Do you know of any instances where Ghanaian diplomats in Britain have involved themselves in your internal affairs?
  10. Is there any particular reason why of the all the people arrested daily for various offences in Ghana, your are especially interested in this person’s case?
  11. Is it the case that you don’t have confidence in our justice delivery, criminal justice system, and our court processes as a whole?
  12. Do you the number of MPs, Chief Executives, and other high profile Ghanaians who have been arrested and prosecuted for road traffic offences and have submitted themselves to due process?
  13. Have the legally and internationally accepted limits associated with freedom of speech and association been stretched to the point where people can now say and act without regard to the sanctity, security and the very survival of a country?
  14. Are you interested in the number of lives lost to road accidents and the number of injured persons as well as families who have become destitute as a result of such accidents caused by the infractions of people like the person of interest to you?
  15. Have you taken note of the innovations being introduced by the Ghana Police Service in recent times to deepened discipline, law and order, as well as protect lives and property in this country?