How Dampare ‘schooled’ British High Commissioner with his letter

According to Dr. Vladimir Antwi-Danso, the British High Commissioner didn’t have to tweet innuendos when the Convener of the #FixTheCounty Movement, Oliver Barker-Vormawor was arrested.

Speaking on the May 31 edition of Joy FM’s Top Story programme, Dr. Antwi-Danso stated that “from an innocuous situation, I do not think the tweets are necessary at all.”

He explained that the tweet by the British High Commissioner is not the standard practice a diplomat must engage in.

“If she felt anything bad about what the Police had done, the standard practice was to call the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and complain that this is against International Human Rights,” he stated. Adding, this is the normal diplomatic practice.

Dr. Vladimir Antwi-Danso continued: “to tweet with innuendos like watching how it will go and then FixTheCountry again, those words are such that they can incite anything in the view of instability.”

“The orange revolution in Ukraine, who started it all? And look at where we are today. In Syria, Libya and Iraq these revolutions come because of the interference of High Commissioners and Ambassadors, especially when they begin to poke their noses in the international affairs of those countries and talk on any innocuous situation.

“I think Dampare took the High Commissioner to some schooling about what they should be interested in when they are in a host country showing a little anger…Dampare responded in his capacity as the IGP, also as the head of the organisation [Ghana Police Service] built for internal stability.”

The British High Commissioner, Harriet Thompson, in a Tweet on Tuesday, May 17, said she looks forward to seeing how the arrest of the convener of the #FixTheCountry Movement will turn out.

“Oliver Barker-Vormawor, the convener of #FixTheCountry Movement, arrested again, I understand, for a motoring offence on his way to court. I’ll be interested to see where this goes…,” the tweet said.

The tweet was posted after officers of the Motor Traffic and Transport Department (MTTD) of the Ghana Police Service arrested Mr. Barker-Vormawor on Tuesday, May 17 and charged him with careless and inconsiderate driving before granting him bail to the tune of GH¢30,000 bail with two sureties.

The Ghana Police Service responded to the British High Commissioner, Harriet Thompson, over her comments concerning the arrest of the convener of the FixTheCountry Movement.

The Police in a four- paged letter signed by the IGP, Dr. George Akuffo Dampare to Madam Harriet Thompson said her tweet was from either a “biased or uninformed position.”

Even though the IGP said the Service would ordinarily not respond to such comments, it is doing so from a previous painful experience.

“However, we have learnt from a previous painful experience that it has not been helpful to ignore such misguided, unwarranted, and biased comments intended to tarnish the reputation of the Ghana Police Service and that of our country.”

The letter also stated that the British High Commissioner’s tweet violates the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

The Ghana Police Service asked the British High Commissioner to Ghana, Harriet Thompson, to mind her own business.