This is why Police picked up the Managing Editor and Vice President of PRINPAG
Managing Editor of Whatsup News – a digital newspaper, David Tamakloe, has been arrested by personnel of the Ghana Police Service. He was picked up from his Abelemkpe office on Wednesday afternoon.
Ghananewsonline.com.gh has reliably gathered that Mr. Tamakloe’s arrest was due to a publication he made in his paper in July this year following a press conference by the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC). The story was in connection with allegations that residents of New Edubiase, a community in the Ashanti Region were urging out minority tribes in the area.
We gathered that Mr. David Tamakloe who is also the Vice President of the Private Newspapers and Online Publishers Association of Ghana (PRINPAG) was first sent to the Tesano Police station in Accra and detained for a while. He was questioned, after which he was whisked into a waiting van and is currently being transported to New Edubiase to answer for his ‘sins”
President of PRINPAG, Mr. Andrew Edwin Arthur who followed up to the Tesano police station reported that the lawyer for David Tamakloe, Godwin Edudzi Tamakloe has said that the arrest was based on a bench warrant issued by the New Edubiase District Court over a story regarding the recently held voter registration exercise and the allegation of military intimidation against people of Ewe descent in the Ashanti Region.
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Editor of ModernGhana.com, Mr Emmanuel Ajarfor Abugri who was also at the police station, in his report narrated that the police drove all the way from New Edubiase to Accra just to arrest David Tamakloe and send him back.
According to him, David was taken away before he and other journalists could even reach the station.
Below is a full briefing on the incident as narrated by Mr. Andrew Edwin Arthur of PRINPAG
I have been at the police station and I’ve received a briefing from both the police and David’s lawyer, Edudzi Tamakloe.
Our colleague has been arrested based on a bench warrant issued by the New Edubiase District Court.
The bench warrant became necessary because the police claimed our colleague was engaging in hide and seek with them over his invitation to assist in investigations way back in July this year.
According to the police, David was invited in July this year in connection with a publication in his Whatsup Virtual newspaper in which he was said to have alleged that the minority tribes in the New Edubiase area were being harassed during the voter registration exercise.
A radio station in New Edubiase picked the story for discussion on its morning show. This led to the arrest of the morning show host of that radio station to assist the police in establishing the truth in that allegation. The morning show host then mentioned David Tamakloe and his WhatsUp newspaper as the source of that information. David’s lawyer said the story emanated from a press conference organized by the NDC constituency executives accusing the police of intimidation.
The police then invited David in July to come and assist in investigations but they claimed he failed to honour their invitations as he was engaging in hide and seek with them.
So, frustrated over the development, the police then went to court to secure the bench warrant to effect his arrest and that is what has happened today.
However, as at now, our colleague is being driven to New Edubiase to appear before the court.
President
By ghananewsonline.com.gh
