The Executive Director of the Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA), Mensah Thompson, is expected to be arraigned later this morning.
Mr. Thompson was detained at the Teshie District Command on Wednesday, where he spent the night and was charged with publication of false news after he honoured an invitation by the police.
According to the police, a formal complaint was brought against the suspect, by the Ghana Armed Forces regarding allegations that members of the President’s family traveled on the Presidential jet to the UK for shopping.
Speaking to Citi News after his client was detained, Mensah Thompson’s lawyer, Victor Adawudu, said: “We had a call, about two weeks ago, that my client should see the District Commander here. It was the time that he was writing an examination, so we pleaded with the Police to give us some time. We later went to see them as promised. We were then informed that they have secured a warrant of arrest for us.”
“They took our statements and said they were investigating for publication of false news. We are to appear before the court on Thursday. We will see what will happen from there.”
Mensah Thompson, who leads ASEPA as an anti-graft and social advocacy group, had alleged that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo together with his relatives had used the Presidential aircraft of the Ghana Armed Forces for a shopping trip to the United Kingdom in December 2021.
That was not his only claim; he alleged that the trip between December 20 to 30 was also joined by the president’s friends.
He thus demanded explanations from the National Security, Ghana Armed Forces, and the Defense Ministry over the alleged use of the presidential jet.
But the Ghana Armed Forces debunked the claims, discredited the report, and asked the public to disregard it.
In an interesting twist, however, Mensah Thompson backtracked on his claims and rendered an unqualified apology for peddling the false claims.
The New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) National Youth Organizer, Henry Nana Boakye, at the time, demanded the arrest of Mensah Thompson over the baseless allegations.
