Mahama, Bryan comments not criminal, says IGP

The Ghana Police Service says the statements made by former President John Dramani Mahama and Bryan Acheampong, Agriculture Minister had all failed the criminal threshold test.

Same was said about remarks made by the National Chairman of the main opposition political party, National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia.

However, the statements by the Suame NDC Youth Organiser were patently criminal and breached the laws of the Republic, hence his arrest and prosecution.

This was after the police legal unit scrutinised every politically controversial statement to ascertain if it meets the criminal threshold of the law before effecting an arrest.

Dr George Akufo Dampare, Inspector General of Police made this revelation following a meeting held by Police Service with the leadership of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and National Democratic Congress to discuss recent developments on the political front, according to excerpts of the meeting which was shared by Henry Nana Boakye, the National Organiser of the governing NPP.

While the NPP was represented by Justin Kodua Frimpong, general secretary and Henry Nana Boakye, national organiser; Johnson Asiedu Nketia, national chairman; Fiifi Fiavi Kwetey, general secretary; and Sammy Gyamfi, also represented the NDC.

In a brief address, the IGP revealed that the meeting was to officially brief both parties on some petitions that were recently received by the police which demanded amongst others, the arrest of some notable politicians on alleged statements made by such individuals that according to the petitioners, threaten the peace and security of the country.

He assured both parties of the determination of the police to serve as impartial referees in enforcing law and order.

The police also briefed both parties on some initiatives it has implemented under the Police Transformation Agenda to guarantee a secure environment for all elections. Paramount amongst such interventions was the constitution of a permanent National Elections Security Taskforce Secretariat (NEST) to supervise and coordinate all elections-related security issues.

Another major initiative outlined by the police was the establishment of a Legal Unit to probe all politically related incidents and determine any breach of legality and whether arrests and prosecutions can be made.

The police subsequently briefed both parties on its investigations into some election-related incidents in constituencies such as Odododiodio, Ablekuma Central, Savelugu, Techiman South, Banda, Awutu Senya, Asawase and Manso Adubia during the 2020 general elections and the internal elections of both parties in 2022.