The Dean of Academic Affairs at the Ghana Armed Forces Command and Staff College (GAFSC), Dr. Vladimir Antwi-Danso has jumped to the defence of the Inspector General of Police, Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, who took on the British High Commissioner to Ghana.
The British High Commissioner to Ghana, Harriet Thompson’s tweet on the arrest of #FixTheCountry movement convener, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, did not sit well with the IGP who rebuked her in a strongly-worded statement.
Some civil society organisations and the leadership of the National Democratic Congress had lambasted Dr. Dampare over the content of the letter.
But Dr. Antwi-Danso said Dampare’s action is in order.
Harriet Thompson’s tweet said: “Oliver Barker-Vormawor, convener of #FixTheCountry movement, arrested again, I understand [it’s] for a motoring offence [and he’s currently] on his way to court. I’ll be interested to see where this goes…”
The police said the tweet was a violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which enjoins diplomatic missions not to interfere in the internal affairs of their host country, and cautioned the British diplomat to desist from publicly commenting on Ghana’s internal issues.
Reacting to the development, Dr. Antwi-Danso said, “the tweet itself was unwarranted in the sense that if the High Commissioner had a problem with what was happening, all she had to do in the sense of proper diplomacy was to refer everything to the Minister for Foreign Affairs.”
“The response was quite intense, but it was in order. There is so much foreign interference in domestic affairs.”
He intimated that the IGP’s response will in no way affect the relationship between the two countries.
“Diplomacy is reciprocatory. A tooth for a tooth, and an eye for an eye. For instance, when Britain did not allow Nigerian and Ghanaian aircraft to land at Heathrow. We reciprocated. Nigeria started by directing that all British Airways land in Kano and not Abuja or Lagos. They were forced to retreat. We also directed their airlines to land in Tamale and not Accra.”
“If you don’t do this, your country is not respected,” he added.
Harriet Thompson, on the other hand, feels the police’s response is an overreaction.
“To me, it feels like a stretch… Me saying I am interested in something is a long way from people saying we must take to the streets,” Harriet Thompson said.
“Commenting on something that is of great interest to a lot of people in a country is not interfering in the affairs of that country,” the High Commissioner added in an interview with GHOne.
The comments came after Barker-Vormawor was arrested for careless and inconsiderate driving and non-observance of road markings at the East Legon tunnel in Accra.
Mr. Barker-Vormawor pleaded not guilty and was granted bail by the court.
He is also facing charges of treason felony after he made comments on social media that were deemed to be a coup threat.
