THINGS YOU DON’T KNOW ABOUT IGP- GEORGE AKUFFO DAMPARE

George Akuffo Dampare (Dr.) is the youngest Acting Inspector–General of Police (IGP) to be appointed in the Fourth Republic and the eighth youngest since Ghana gained independence.

1. He was the Municipal Commander for Cape Coast Oguaa.
2. He lectured at the University of Cape Coast.
3. He’s Married to Anita and has Six Children.

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 as 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 a 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.

As the Director-General for National Operations, Dr. Dampare created an efficient system where fragmented units were consolidated to create effective and complete departments such as the establishment of an Anti-armed Robbery Unit (the COMBAT Unit) to aggressively fight robbery and other violent crimes.

He also created the Intelligence Unit within the National Operations Department, which later informed the creation of a Police Intelligence Department at the national level.

As Accra Regional Police Commander, Dampare introduced an innovative and proactive policing strategy called the “Continuous Stakeholder Engagement Programme” where all stakeholders were included and involved in policing the Region.

For the first time, through this initiative, the Ghana Police Service under his leadership, visited Political Parties in their offices to engage them.

As Director-General in charge of Welfare, Dr. Dampare introduced an innovative social welfare scheme where he led officers from the Department to visit the homes of scores of sick and bedridden police officers across the country, and also introduced strategic medical interventions to facilitate their wellness.