As the parties begin their preliminary comments during the Inspector-General of Police’s testimony, it has come to light that the committee has acquired a second tape aside from the one under investigation.
This came up when the lawyer for Dr George Akuffo Dampare reminded the committee of its scope adding that it will not cooperate with issues that do not reflect the details given to them ahead of their arrival.
According to the lawyer, Kwame Gyan the opening remarks by the committee Chairman and his deputy he believes hinted at the possibility of further evidence being brought to the fore.
“It turns out that there was another tape and if you care to know I will tell you I’m not into it. And that at that tape was furnished this committee by the lawyers of Chief Bugri Naabu. It will be a miscarriage of justice and an outrageous way of adducing evidence to discard the second tape.
“I don’t see how we as the committee can say that no we will not look at it, when the first tape, or if you like, the original one is being challenged by the individuals who are on the first tape who say ‘no, there’s more to the tape than we can see’. And guess what? The one who said he taped furnishes and committee with. If you like, the full tape.”
He asked the IGP’s lawyer if it would be tight to disregard this piece of information in proceeding with this hearing.
“Council, will it sit with equity, good conscience and law for this committee to say, well there is additional information associated and integral to the first tape and we want to ignore it?”
He added that the IGP’s lawyers have the opportunity to assess that said second tape regarding how “it affects your client, you deal with it.”
The lawyer added that it would be unfair and unjust for the four previous witnesses to sit in during Dampare’s testimony.
“The same way that we sat outside, they should also sit outside,” he told Parliament’s ad-hoc committee a while ago.