- We, Ishaw Yakubu aka Boyoo and Samuel Ofori make this statement on our own behalf to assist the Committee in determining the following:
a. The award of a contract to Bugri Naabu and the payments of Kickbacks by Dr. George Akuffo Damapre
b. The role played by Bugri Naabu during the period leading to the appointment of Dr. Dampare as the IGP.
c. Unauthorized monthly payment paid by the Pay Master, COP Nketiah Frimpong on behalf of Dr. Dampare to Bugri Naabu, Samuel Ofori and Boyoo.
d. Unravelling the conspiracy between the IGP and Bugri Naabu to trap and record COP Mensah and others.
2. We know Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, the current Inspector General of Police (IGP) of the Republic of Ghana. As a matter of fact, we and Chairman Bugri Naabu played a key role in lobbying for Dr. Dampare to be appointed IGP.
3. Somewhere in the year 2019, Boyoo received a phone call from Dr. Dampare. We did not know him then. When he introduced himself as COP Dampare, Boyoo put the phone on loud speaker so that Ofori could hear him.
4. Dr. Dampare introduced himself as a Police Officer at the headquarters and that he got Boyoo’s number from someone who told him that we worked at the residency of the President.
5. Dr. Dampare informed us that he would like us to assist him meet the President, His Excellency Nana Akufo-Addo and that he has a very important information to share with the President.
6. Boyoo was working at the jubilee House whiles, Ofori was working at the President’s residence. We were initially skeptical about Dr. Dampare’s proposal, so we agreed to meet him in person first.
Accordingly, we arranged and met him at Nima Infront of the President’s residence.
7. Upon meeting Dr. Dampare, we requested him to show us his card to prove his rank and identity. We also told him that we will show the card to President’s assistant so that he would know the details of Dr. Dampare.. He sent one Kamal who he was with at that time to get us his card to that effect.
8. During our meeting with Dr. Dampare, he informed us that terrorists were planning to attack Accra mall so he wants to inform the president about it. We wondered why a big policeman like him would want to see the president about this alleged impending attack when he could address it with the then IGP. He told us that the then IGP was aware of the issue but he has refused to brief the president on it.
9. Subsequently, we made the arrangement and subsequently led Dr. Dampare to meet the President. As regards the discussions that he had with the president we were not privy to.
10. In about a month later, Dr. Dampare called again that he wanted to meet us. We arranged and met at Airport Shell, Burger King. At the said meeting, Dr. Dampare promised to make us rich if we are able to help him become the next IGP. According to him since we were party boys and know a lot of part big men, we should introduce him to them so that they can lobby for him to be made the IGP. He promised us a vehicle and a house each as well as police enlistment slots and contracts if we help him become the IGP.
11. From there, we started building a relationship with him. Even on one occasion we arranged and met Dr. Dampare at Police Depo upon his invitation. From time to time, we meet at Lizzy Sports Complex at East Legon to interact.
12. In our quest to help Dr. Dampare become the next IGP, we went to see Chief Bugri Naabu (who was our godfather) and informed him that Dr. Dampare has expressed his intentions to become the next IGP and he wants us to assist him. So Chief Bugri asked us to bring him.
13. We went to see chief Bugri Naabu together with Dr. Dampare and we accordingly introduced Dr. Dampare to Chief Bugri Naabu at the latter’s office in Osu and informed him of the promises made to us by Dr. Dampare if we assist him become the IGP. The IGP repeated the promises he had made to us earlier to Chairman Bugri Naabu who became excited about the prospects.
14. In fact, in one of our visits with Dr. Dampare to Chief Bugri Naabu’s office, Dr. Dampare offered Bugri Naabu unspecified amount of dollars to facilitate the lobbying agenda but Chief rejected it and told him to wait until everything was done.
15. Through subsequent engagements and lobbying by Chairman Bugri Naabu, Dr. Dampare was appointed as acting IGP and he was finally confirmed as the IGP, later. When he became the IGP, Ofori congratulated him. He also responded but thereafter, he stopped responding to our calls and messages.
16. We were left with no option but to complain to Chairman Bugri about the conduct of the IGP. Chairman Bugri also expressed the same sentiments.
17. After some persistent pressure from us, Dr. Dampare called us to come to his office. We had a brief conversation and enquired why he was not picking our calls? He responded that he was now settling in his new role that was why we were not hearing form him.
18. Thereafter he led us to a police officer whom he introduced as the pay master (we later go to know his name as COP Nketiah Frimpong) and told us to give our names and momo numbers to him for him to pay us GHs1,000.00 every month. We accordingly started receiving the GHs1,000.00 every month via mobile money from a vendor called Klevor Ventures. We have attached photographs showing the transactions or transfers made to Boyoo as Exhibit BY. Unfortunately, Ofori has lost those messages.
19. We stopped receiving the money last month August, when the leaked tape came up and committee was set up.
20. When the GH1,000 started coming, Dr. Dampare took advantage of the situation and started ignoring us again. We complained to chairman that GH1,000 being paid by the IGP was not enough to cater for the promises he made to us. Chairman sympathized with us and said he would talk to the IGP to honour his promises, but unknown to us, Chief Bugri Naabu was being paid Ghs10,000.00 every month by the IGP. Chairman Bugri Naabu confirmed this payment to Boyoo later on during a telephone conversation with Boyoo.
21. Later, Bugri Naabu informed us that “there is good news”; the IGP had intimated to him that he will offer us a contract for the supply of boots for police personnel, so he should bring his company registration documents to him.
22. Subsequently Chairman Bugri told us that “the IGP is not correct” because when he went to see him with his company registration documents, the IGP said he would want to deal directly with the supplier, instead of Bugri Naabu so that the supplier would give us commission.
23. The supplier would pay us GH1,000,000 as kickback from the contract sum, according to Bugri Naabu. Ofori convinced Bugri Naabu to accept the offer from the IGP since Afterall, what we needed was money and not contract.
24. Chief Bugri Naabu, therefore found a supplier called Michael Bediako, who operates a company known Shoe Fabriek.
25. We agreed amongst ourselves that once the police service pays the money to the supplier and we receive our portion, Chief Bugri Naabu would be entitled to GHs400,000 whiles myself and Ofori would receive the remaining GHs600,000 in equal shares.
26. After sometime, we were told by Chief Bugri that the money had been paid to the supplier so very soon we would receive our share. Despite the assurances, our share of the Ghs1,000,000 was not forthcoming. We poured out our displeasure and frustrations about the whole thing. We even confronted Bugri Naabu on the whole situation after we got to know that he was taking GHs10,000 from the IGP every month.
27. Afterwards, Bugri Naabu told us that the sum has changed from GH1,000,000 to GH800,000. Later Bugri again said it was no longer 800,000 but 500,000. At this point we became fed-up and extremely disappointed in both Bugri Naabu and the IGP. All that we now wanted was at least our share of the contract that was awarded to Michael Bediako through Bugri Naabu.
28. We even threatened Chief Bugri that if he does not get us our share of the contract, we would report him to the president. Chief Bugri retorted that he didn’t want the president to know that he deceived him into appointing Dampare as IGP because of kickbacks. He asked us to exercise patience for him to talk to the IGP and Michael, the Supplier. On the attached pen drive is Exhibit BY1 – A conversation among Boyo, Ofori & B.Naabi on the delayed payment of their share of the contract sum.
29. We suspected Chief Bugri and the IGP were up to something fishy so we again confronted Chief Bugri Naabu at his office in Osu to pressurize him for our share of the contract. It was at this point that Chief Bugri told us that the reason for the delay was that the supplier had informed him that, the contract was originally for one Ben Coffie and later subleased to Michael. This Ben Coffie had to sanction the payment of our commission. On the attached pen drive is Exhibit BY2 – A discussion amongst Boyo, Ofori & B.Naabi on the reasons for the delayed payment of their share of the contract sum.
30. This was clearly an afterthought and it was also inconsistent with our previous engagements with Bugri Naabu and the IGP on the matter.
31. In the end, Boyoo was compelled to call the Supplier, Michael Bediako about our share of the contract money. He promised to send the money on the same day Boyoo called him and that he will talk to the IGP and chief Bugri about the whole situation. We have attached evidence of Boyoo’s conversation with Michael Bediako on the pen drive as Exhibit BY3. In a separate conversation the same day, Michael promised to give us GH250,000 so that we stop disturbing the IGP and Bugri Naabu.
32. We were later called by Chief Bugri to come for the money Michael promised us. But to our surprised, instead of the GH250,000 promised, he brought only GH50,000. We doubted that Michael will renege on his promises so we made Bugri Naabu to call him to put him on speaker for us to verify the amount and why he brought that Gh50,000. See Exhibit BY4 which captures the conversation Bugri had with Michael confirming the amount among others.
33. We rejected the GHs50,000 outright since that was not what Boyoo discussed with the supplier. We were saddened by the turn of events but we had to let go because we considered Bugri Naabu as a father figure in our life.
34. Our relationship with chief Bugri Naabu became frosty afterwards but after a while we decided to forgive chief and move on.
35. Later, Chief Bugri intimated to Boyoo that he has heard that the President intends to change the IGP, so if he knows of any Commissioner, he could recommend him. Boyo spoke to a few police officers and one name kept coming up; COP Alex Mensah. So he met him and told him what Chief Bugri had informed him.
36. Subsequently, Boyoo brought COP Alex Mensah to see Bugri Naabu at his Osu, office. Thereafter, Chief Bugri requested Boyoo to bring his CV, so that he will give it to the president, which he did.
37. Boyoo was reliably informed that Chief Bugri did not give the CV to the president but rather to the IGP, to let him know that indeed, someone was interested in his position and that Boyoo was the one seeking for his removal as a revenge for the IGP’s failure to honour his promises to us. We are convinced that it was at this point that both the IGP and Bugri Naabu teamed up to record COP Mensah.
38. We were very disappointed that Chief Bugri teamed up with the IGP and lured Boyo to trap COP Mensah and Commander Asare. Indeed, after the tape got leaked and the Committee was setup, Boyo confronted Bugri Naabu on the recording and luring him to bring COP Mensah to him.
39. Boyo indicated to Bugri that he would petition the committee to expose him for his evil deeds. In the same recording, Chief Bugri confessed that the Police Service pays him GH10,000 every month. We have on the attached pendrive Exhibit BY5 series – telephone conversation between Boyo & B.Naabu after the setup of the committee to investigate the leaked tape (1) & (2).
40. When the recording came up Boyo was invited to the NIB office. he was informed that one S.K an assistant of Bugri Naabu had mentioned his name as the person who introduce Dampare to Bugri Naabu.
41. Boyoo states further that aware that at the NIB office, Chief Bugri and his staff all confirmed my statement and acknowledge that the taping was done by the IGP to trap COP Mensah.
