Security Analyst, Adam Bonah, has challenged claims by Superintendent George Asare that the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr. George Akuffo Damapre expedited the promotion of Assistant Superintendent (ASP) Kenneth Asante Antwi.
According to him, the IGP had no hand in the promotion of the then-junior police officer.
Supt. George Asare is one of the witnesses who appeared before the committee tasked to investigate the leaked tape.
During the interrogation, Supt Asare asserted that the then junior officer Kenneth Asante Antwi was sent on a UN mission by COP George Alex Mensah.
He further stated that the officer was allowed to go to the Police college to be trained to become an Assistant Superintendent upon completion by the IGP Dr. George Akuffo Dampare.
According to the security analyst, some statements made by Superintendent Asare do not align with the available information in his records.
He argues that the junior police officer in question had earned his promotion through a merit-based system within the Ghana Police Service.
Contrary to Supt. Asare’s claims, Adam Bonah indicated that the junior officer’s deployment to UN missions was not influenced by COP George Alex Mensah or the IGP.
According to him, the police officer, ASP Asante passed his UN SAAT Exams in 2014 and was deployed to UNMISS from November 29, 2014, to November 30, 2016, and went back to the UN in May 2018.
“He [reference to ASP Asante] wrote his UN SAAT Exams in 2014 passed and got deployed to UNMISS on 29th November 2014 -30 November 2016 NDC Era
“Back to UN in May 2018. Special Request by UN Quick turnaround request by the New York UNHQ police division and left Ghana in May 2018 to UNMISS to perform a role as Chief of Crime Analysis and Intelligence Unit due to his performance in previous Mission and returned in Sep 2020,” he stated in his records.
Adam Bonah further stated that there was a special request from the UN by the UNHQ New York police division which took the ASP Asante out of the country.
“A UN-sponsored program trained him as a professional crime analyst in the USA and provided him with other training by UN Serious and Organised Crime (SOC). He became a member of the International Association of Crime Analysts. No Commander or Police officer in Ghana had any role in his return to the UN.
“Even whilst in the Mission, there were multiple recommendations due to the multiple roles he plays. He joined the police in 2005. As of January 2022, was Inspector Maximum almost a Chief Inspector rank. He never enjoyed any recommendation for promotion,” he noted.
Addressing the claim that ASP Asante was sent to the Police College by IGP Dampare, the security analyst states that there was a recommendation by institutions and not IGP Dampare.
“He had three special recommendations which elevated him to police college, some dated 2020 and 2021, as follows, which took him to the police college; recommendations from UNHQ, based on performance. From the Police International Relations Directorate (IRD) and the D-G PID in 2021,” he added.
ghanaweb.com
