Jake Obetsebi Lamptey
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) wants President John Dramani Mahama to order National Security Coordinator Col. Larry Gbevlo-Lartey (Rtd) to step aside to pave way for investigations into the importation of police uniforms.
It said with Friday?s crucial general elections just at the corner, the posture of the security capo left much to be desired, adding that his continuous stay in office was putting Ghana?s security in danger.
Addressing a news conference in Accra yesterday, NPP National Chairman Jake Otanka Obetsebi-Lamptey said, ?We were exposed to the disquieting information that police uniforms were being imported into the country consigned, not to the police, but to a private company.?
Flanked by Dr. Kofi Konadu Apraku, the NPP?s Chairman of Security Committee for Election 2012, Mr. Obetsebi-Lamptey noted, ?In the matter of these uniforms, it would seem that Gbevlo-Lartey stopped the police procurement process and insisted that his outfit would, very unusually, handle the importation of uniforms for the Ghana Police Service.?
He said: ?The uniforms he has ordered are being delivered in a piecemeal fashion so that it is impossible to take inventory until the conclusion of the order sometime in the future. In the meantime, these uniforms are in the system.?
Mr. Obetsebi-Lamptey said that the statement on the infamous Yaw Boateng Gyan tape and ?the strange, suspicious circumstances of the importation of these uniforms create a sense of disquiet?.
The NPP stressed that if any of these uniforms got into the wrong hands or masqueraders attempted to use them, then genuine policemen and women should have ?their names and numbers on their uniforms and carry an official police ID card and a special elections ID cards?.
He added, ?Citizens may demand to see these cards when they suspect that they are dealing with a masquerader.?
He said the situation had come to this because the national security had always been partisan in its approach to issues, adding, ?It is in his job to protect Ghana and Ghanaians, not to expose us to any dangers.?
?We call on President Mahama to act and restrain his National Security Coordinator Col. Gbevlo-Lartey from putting our security safety at risk.?
The NPP Chairman stated that in Gbevlo-Lartey?s politicization of his job, ?he has caused spectacular failures, embarrassing Ghana and putting us at risk of danger and discomfort?.
?He failed to detect the notorious Christmas pants bomber (Omar Farouk Abdul Mutallab), who started his journey of what would have proved to be one of the worst terrorist acts from Kotoka International Airport. He has failed to prevent Ghana being cited as a source of destabilization of our neighbour, Ivory Coast. A few weeks ago, he allowed Ghana to be used as the source of one of history?s biggest attempts to smuggle narcotics into Great Britain.?
The NPP also remembered Col. Gbevlo-Lartey who it said was ?the Commander of the 64 Infantry Battalion who sought to use his command to create fear and panic in the election of the year 2000?.
The NPP said the president could not allow the security capo to ?taint and sour whatever memories Ghanaians will have of your presidency. Get him under your control?.
He told NPP supporters to be vigilant and resist any intimidation, adding, ?We will not allow bad people to frighten us out of our God-given birthright, our right to vote; our right to decide who will manage the affairs of our country for the next four years.?
By William Yaw Owusu
