Dr George Akuffo Dampare, the Inspector-General of Police, has ordered the interdiction of four more police officers in connection with the disturbances at the Kumasi Islamic Senior High School last week. While analysing CCTV footage of the turmoil that transpired when police officers stormed the school to disrupt a student protest last Monday, the Officers were captured on tape making Islamophobic comments.
In a video that has gone viral on social media, one of the officers running commentary while reviewing the CCTV footage is heard saying, “have you seen their attitude [referring to students of the Islamic SHS]? Do you think if it was an Akan school, they would behave that way?” Another said: “They are dirty. They are dirty! Wherever these Muslims are, there is problem….”
Following this development, the Operations Commander of the Ghana Police Service, DCOP Mohammed Suraji, on behalf of the Inspector General of Police, has led a delegation to visit the Zongo Chief of Kumasi, Alhaji Umar Sulta Farouk. According to a report,DCOP Suraji confirmed the interdiction of the officers during the visit. “Such [a comment] doesn’t represent the Ghana police. So, we are here to apologise. As I speak, the officers, including a chief inspector, have been interdicted. They are under service inquiry for exhibiting such unprofessional conduct, and we support this decision. We should treat this with the contempt it deserves,” DCOP Suraji said. DCOP Suraji emphasised the police’s commitment to respecting all Ghanaians, regardless of their political, religious, or tribal affiliation. The police administration’s newest interdiction puts the total number of officers interdicted for the disruptions at the Kumasi Islamic Senior High School to seven.
On Monday, June 13, 2022, students from Kumasi Islamic Senior High School caused heavy traffic on the Abrepo road that runs in front of their campus to express their discontent with the area’s regular accidents. The outraged pupils claimed that they and their teachers had become victims of regular pedestrian knockdowns and that the protest was intended to raise attention to their condition. However, a police contingent called in to calm the students decided to fire gunshots and teargas to manage the situation. This resulted in a more chaotic situation in which some 30 students fell unconscious and had to be rushed to the hospital.
