Francis Poku in London

Page 3: January 21, 2008
Story: Albert K. Salia
Former National Security Minister, Mr Francis Poku, is said to have left the country last Friday and believed to be “cooling off” in London.
Security sources in Accra confirmed Mr Poku’s exit to the Daily Graphic yesterday but added that they had no clue how he left or which route he used.
“I can confirm to you that Mr Poku is not in his house but there are no traces of him having left through the Kotoka International Airport or any of the official land entry and exit points at Aflao, Elubo or Paga,” A highly placed security source told the Daily Graphic.
It indicated that Mr Poku might have used an unapproved route into a neighbouring country from where he flew to London.
The source, however, expressed surprise at the development because “Mr Poku’s life was not under any threat from anybody or organisation”.
On the possible reasons, it said Mr Poku might have felt uncomfortable with the number of calls he was receiving, as well as the number of visitors who trooped to his residence after his sudden dismissal and the encounter with the armed policemen in his residence last Wednesday.
It disclosed that following Mr Poku’s removal from office, a surveillance team from the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) was placed on him but the team was withdrawn last Wednesday after they were ordered to do so by the appropriate authority.
One of the intelligence sources explained that Mr Poku could have travelled through the airport or any exit point without fear because he (Mr Poku) was not under any form of travel restriction.
They, however, confirmed that members of Mr Poku’s household were still in the country.
Mr Poku joined Ghana’s security services in the 1970s with the then Special Branch (now BNI).
He rose through the ranks to become the Accra Regional Commander of the Special Branch before joining the Fraud Squad of the Ghana Police Service.
He was later transferred to Wa as the Divisional Commander of Police at a time the Upper West Region had not been created.
Mr Poku left for London on exile in early 1982 after the December 31, 1981 coup d’etat.
He returned to Ghana in 2001 to assume the post of National Security Co-ordinator under the government of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) of President J. A. Kufuor. He was elevated to the position of Minister of National Security in 2005.
Mr Poku was dismissed as National Security Minister on Saturday, January 12, 2008. Last Wednesday, armed policemen besieged his residence and prevented him and members of his household from going out or receiving visitors.
It took the intervention of the Chief of Defence Staff, Lt Gen J. B. Danquah, for the personnel of the Critical Incidence Response Team, drawn from the Ghana Police Service, to withdraw from Mr Poku’s residence.
The Information and National Orientation Minister, Mrs Oboshie Sai-Cofie, later issued a statement from the Office of the President to deny that Mr Poku was under house arrest.
She described what took place at Mr Poku’s residence as “routine and in conformity with worldwide practice” and said it was part of “a process of debriefing and completing a handover procedure”.