In a move that has sparked intense debate, President John Mahama has relieved Dr George Akuffo Dampare of his duties as the Inspector General of Police (IGP).
While the President may be within his rights to make such a decision, Franklin Cudjoe, founder and president of IMANI Africa, has stated that this development underscores a longstanding legal challenge regarding presidential authority over security agency heads.
Mr. Cudjoe has taken the opportunity to clarify the nature of IMANI’s legal action.
“This morning’s injunction filed by our lawyers was in furtherance of a suit filed by IMANI and Prof. Kwesi Aning LAST YEAR, MARCH 2024 at the Supreme Court, nine months before the December elections,” he clarified in an article.
He dismissed claims that the injunction was a strategic move to derail the newly elected President John Mahama.
“It is not about any attempt to derail John Mahama at all,” he asserted, explaining that the request was based on widespread reports about Dampare’s removal.
The legal action, according to Cudjoe, aims to establish a constitutional boundary for presidential authority over security service heads.
He outlined the key argument: “We were asking the apex court to issue a declaration that upon a true and proper interpretation of the letter and spirit of Articles 200, 202(1), 202(2), 202(3), 205, 207(1), 207(2), 207(3), 190(1), 191, 196, 199, and 269 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, the President of the Republic of Ghana has no authority to terminate the appointment or remove from office heads of the agencies unless only upon proven stated misconduct or misbehavior.”
These agencies include the Fire Service, the Prisons Service, and the Immigration Service, alongside the Police Service.
The crux of IMANI’s argument is that heads of these institutions should not be arbitrarily dismissed but only removed under specific conditions outlined in the Constitution.
Franklin Cudjoe pointed to historical precedents where security agency heads were ousted before reaching the statutory retirement age.
“For instance, in 2017, the then Director-General of the Prisons Service, Emmanuel Yao Adzator, was asked to proceed on leave at the age of 54, and subsequently, another was appointed in his stead,” he noted.
He drew a direct comparison to Dr. Dampare’s situation.
“Today, Dr. Dampare, aged 54, the immediate past IGP, has been removed by a new president without stating any of the grounds in the Constitution upon which he has been removed,” Mr. Cudjoe said, raising concerns about the arbitrary exercise of presidential power.
IMANI is not just challenging Dr. Dampare’s removal but seeking a landmark ruling that would restrict future presidents from unilaterally replacing security service heads.
“We were, therefore, demanding a consequential order to restrain or prevent the President of the Republic from dismissing or removing or attempting to dismiss or remove the appointment of persons occupying the offices of the Chief Fire Officer of the Fire Service, Inspector General of Police, Director-General of Prisons Service, and Comptroller General of Immigration Service unless only in cases of proven and stated misconduct or misbehavior,” he explained.
Mr. Cudjoe further stressed that such removals should only happen under conditions such as “retirement, resignation, death, or incapacity to perform the functions of the office because of infirmity of body or mind.”
The Supreme Court is set to rule on the matter on May 7, 2025. Until then, the debate rages on about the limits of executive power and the constitutional protections for heads of Ghana’s security agencies.
“Let’s all wait for the Supreme Court’s ruling,” Franklin Cudjoe concluded, leaving the final decision in the hands of Ghana’s apex court.
ALSO READ: