A Security Analyst, Emmanuel Kutin, has raised doubts about the preparedness of James Oppong Boanuh, Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) to take on a possible role as a substantive IGP.
Oppong Boanuh has acted as Inspecter General of Police since Monday, July 22, 2019 and has been largely tipped to be confirmed as the substantive IGP following a directive by the President for then IGP, David Asante-Apeatu to proceed on leave.
It is in this regard that the Executive Director of the Africa Centre for Security and Counter-Terrorism is stating that Mr Oppong Boanuh’s possible appointment as a substantive IGP any time soon will be a great disservice to Ghanaians on the part of the Government.
He believes the Acting IGP has been given some years to operate and therefore should be allowed to complete his years’ contract.
“If the Government confirms him as the substantive IGP, definitely I will have a problem with that. How many years has he got on his contract? By that expression, I think it will be a disservice to the good people of Ghana if he’s appointed a substantive role. You see, we have done more harm to the service for a very long time, we can’t continue to do that. There must be some longevity where somebody can bring programs, rally Ghanaians and his colleagues on that program, and that program can bear fruit. You don’t need one year to do that, you don’t need two years to do that” he argued.
A week after his appointment, Mr Oppong Boanuh directed the interdiction of the Lakeside District Police Commander, DSP Mr Eric Partey Opata for keeping a suspect in police custody for nine days without due process.
Oppong Boanuh also, rather significantly, brought closure to the case of the missing Takoradi girls, an issue that had lingered for more than a year.
Following these and several other instances, many are confident Mr. Oppong-Boanuh deserves to be confirmed as IGP.
But security expert, Emmanuel Kutin disagrees.
According to him, any decision to confirm Mr. Oppong-Boanuh will be a hasty one which may not be in the interest of the citizenry.
“I think he’s too much in a hurry to impress people and I want to believe that he was the deputy IGP. He had a good platform to make sure that his boss succeeded and he had made several profound statements where he said he was going to listen to both the junior and the senior officers, does it mean that his boss was not giving the platform of same? I want to suggest and call on the government that Ghana doesn’t deserve an acting IGP, given the times we live in. The government should as a matter of urgency appoint a substantive IGP and give power and meaning to the service” he stated.
