British High Commissioner Reacts to IGP’s Letter That Criticised Her Tweet On Barker-Vormawor’s Arrest

• The British High Commissioner to Ghana, Harriet Thompson, has responded to a long letter from the IGP that accused her of meddling in Ghana's internal affairs
• Harriet Thompson said her tweet on May 17 stating that she has been told that Oliver Barker-Vormawor has been arrested again was harmless
• Mrs Thompson said she knew Ghanaians to be peace-loving and have the right to express themselves but she does not think her tweet could incite them as the IGP had suggested

British High Commissioner to Ghana has reacted to a strongly-worded letter from the IGP that sought to criticise her tweet in May about the arrest of FixTheCountry’s Oliver Barker-Vormawor.

Harriet Thompson said during an interview on GHOne that her comment on May 17, 2022, was not intended to incite Ghanaians as IGP Dr George Akuffo Dampare had suggested in the letter.

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“That was not the intention, and in my experience, Ghana is a peace-loving nation where people have the right to express themselves; they do have the right to come out to protest against things that matter to them. A tweet like that will not get Ghanaians on the street in my view. It looks like my tweet wasn’t received as it was intended. I didn’t expect a response from the IGP at all,” she told GHOne News on Tuesday, May 31, 2022.

IGP Dampare's critical letter to the High Commissioner

IGP Dr George Akuffo Dampare sent the strongly-worded letter to the British High Commissioner following her tweet last month about the arrest of FixTheCountry’s Oliver Barker-Vormawor.

Among other things, the Inspector General of Police asked Harriet Thompson to restrain herself from commenting on things that do not concern her.

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Ms Thompson had tweeted:

“Oliver Barker-Vormawor, 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…”

But the IGP said the tweet was biased and uninformed.

In the letter published on the official Twitter page of the police, the IGP said ordinarily the police would not have responded to the tweet.

“However, we have learnt from previous, painful experiences 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.”

Sammy Gyamfi Condemns IGP’s Response to British High Commissioner's Tweet About Barker-Vormawor

Meanwhile, YEN.com.gh reported in related story that Communications Officer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) Sammy Gyamfi has condemned the IGP’s response British High Commissioner's tweet.

According to the young politician and lawyer, the Inspector General of Police, displayed pride and unprofessionalism in his reply.

"The arrogance and intolerance displayed by the IGP in his response to a harmless tweet by the British High Commissioner to Ghana is disgusting, to say the least,” Sammy Gyamfi posted on Facebook.

Source: YEN.com.gh