AUDIO: Gov’t has no hand in Koku’s arrest – Mustapha Hamid

The Government has denied allegations that it has a hand in the arrest of Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Koku Anyidoho.
“We have no hand in Koku’s arrest. His comments were not in good taste and all we did was to condemn his statement because it could derail the country. Koku is a very capable human being and so his arrest and investigations into his statement was in order” the information minister has said.
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“Powers from CID are responsible for the arrest because they are the right people to take over the issue and not politicians. We had no right to cause his arrest except the police and that was what he witnessed” Mustapha added.
Mr Anyidoho was picked up last Tuesday by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) for allegedly making some claims on public radio deemed treasonable.
He had allegedly indicated that President Akufo-Addo would be overthrown because of the ratification of the controversial defence cooperation agreement between Ghana and the US, saying it could spark a “social revolution” in Ghana.
“There will be a civilian coup d’état. There will be a social revolution. We [NDC] are starting it on Wednesday. The movement is starting on Wednesday. Nana Addo will have sleepless nights. He will suffer diarrhoea. He said he wanted to be president, but we will make sure he is fed up on the seat,’’ he added.
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He was subsequently detained by the CID where he spent two nights in the custody of the Bureau of National Investigations after which he was granted bail on Friday.
But speaking in an exclusive interview on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen Wednesday, Mustapha Hamid said Anyidoho’s arrest was not an agenda to divert attention from the US-Ghana military deal.
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He indicated that when people make treasonable comments or when they allude to the fact that they intend to overthrow a government, it will be important for the security agencies to investigate that person and to find out how he intends to do that.
He said, although the NDC has subsequently dissociated itself from Mr. Anyidoho’s comments, it has to take a firmer stance by strongly condemning same.