Mensah Thompson
The Executive Director of Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA), Mensah Thompson, was yesterday dragged before a Kaneshie Magistrate Court over false claims that some family members of the President used the presidential jet for shopping in the United Kingdom in December last year.
The accused made the claims on his Facebook page last month, which drew a lot of public outcry. He later retracted the allegation and apologised for it after he was not able to prove the statements.
He was detained by the police on Wednesday after he initially failed to report to the Teshie Rasta Police Station when he was contacted to report to assist with investigations regarding the false publication, which the police say, has the tendency of breaching the public peace.
Court documents indicate Mensah Thompson had written on Facebook that between December 20 and 30, 2021, the children of close relatives of the President used Ghana’s presidential jet, Falcon EX, on a trip to the United Kingdom just for Christmas shopping.
Investigations, according the documents, revealed that the accused person also challenged the Ministry of National Security, the Ghana Air Force and the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority to provide answers to Ghanaians on why the presidential jet under their care was used for such purpose.
He was hauled before court yesterday charged with two counts of publication of false news and offensive conduct conducive to the breach of the peace to which he pleaded not guilty.
The prosecutor, Teye Okuffo, told the court that the police are still investigating the matter and urged it to remand the accused person for one week to enable them conduct their investigations.
He said the accused failed to honour an invitation by the police and only showed up at the police station with his counsel when he had information that a warrant had been issued for his arrest.
He said the accused person cannot compel the state to accept his apology, adding that what he did constituted an offence which is why he was before the court.
Plea For Bail
His counsel, Victor Adawudu, argued that it was not true that the accused failed to honour an invitation by the police as contained in the fact of the case.
He told the court that when the police was looking for the accused person, he informed them that the accused was writing an examination and would be done in the first week of February.
He said the accused was in the process of going to the police when the arrest warrant was issued, a situation the Teshie District Police Commander was not aware of.
He prayed the court to grant Thompson bail pending the trial, stating that the accused is a mere mortal and cannot in anyway interfere with investigations which involve the military and the police.
Mr. Adawudu said the accused person’s source misled him and he, out of respect, retracted the publication and apologised for same.
The court, presided over His Worship Oheneba Kufuor, said this is not the time to be dragging the President’s name around with all the tensions going on. He granted the accused person a bail of GH¢50,000 with two sureties.
Mr. Thompson was asked to report the police thrice every week as part of the bail conditions. Case was adjourned to March 15.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak