COP Dampare takes over as new IGP
President Akufo-Addo has appointed the Commissioner of Police (COP) George Akuffo Dampare (Ph.D.), to serve as the acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) effective August 1, 2021.
According to sources, he has been given the top job, and that the Presidency will soon communicate it officially to Ghanaians.
COP Dampare met with the President in his capacity as the current senior-most Commissioner of Police fit for the role ahead of the exit of the current IGP, James Oppong-Boanuh.
The 51-year-old will be the youngest IGP in the 4th Republic if confirmed as the substantive IGP. George Akuffo Dampare, who has served in various capacities within the Ghana Police Service, is known and praised for his professionalism, decency, and integrity within and outside the service.
Profile
Fifty-One (51) year old COP Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, a staunch Christian, joined the Ghana Police Service 32 years ago as a constable with no secondary school background.
Surprisingly, he rose quickly in the ranks after completing various courses to become an ACCA chartered accountant. He later completed IPS, now the University of Professional Studies, UPSA, and went on to obtain a Ph.D. in Finance in the revered King’s College in the UK.
Dr Dampare is the youngest acting IGP to be appointed in the Fourth Republic and the eighth youngest since Ghana gained independence. Prior to this appointment, he was the most senior police officer after the just retired IGP.
Dr. Dampare joined the Ghana Police Service (GPS) as a Constable in December, 1990 at age 20 and rose through the ranks to become Commissioner of Police (COP) 24 years later at age 44 in 2014, the rank he held until his appointment.
In 1991, on completion of his recruit training, Dr Dampare was adjudged the overall Best Recruit at the National Police Training School and won all awards except the award for the ‘Best Marksman’. Again in 1996, he emerged the overall Best Cadet for the 32nd Cadet Officers’ Course at the Ghana Police Academy (formerly, Police College) and won all awards, including Excellence in Professional Police Subjects and Excellence in Academic Subjects.
During his over thirty-year career as a police officer, Dr. Dampare has made significant contributions to policing in Ghana and beyond as enumerated below:
At the leadership and management level, Dampare has had the rare privilege of serving as the Head (Director-General) of almost every major department, giving him greater insight into the administration of policing in Ghana. Specifically, Dr. Dampare has been Director-General for Administration and Director-General for Welfare twice.
He has also served as Director – General for MTTD, Director-General for Research & Planning, Director-General for Operations, Director-General for ICT, Director-General for Finance and Director-General for National Patrol Department (Police Visibility Department).
Other leadership positions Dr. Dampare previously held include Commandant of the Police Command and Staff College, Accra Regional Police Commander, Regional Commander for Railways, Ports and Harbour (now Police Marine Department), Municipal Commander for Cape-Coast and Chief Internal Auditor of the GPS.
Between 2010 and 2015, under the leadership of two IGPs, Messrs. Paul Tawiah Quaye and Mohammed Ahmed Alhassan, Dampare led and coordinated the ‘National Anti-armed Robbery Reward to Informant Initiative’, which saw the arrest and prosecution of many notorious armed robbers across the country.
