The Ghana Police Service (GPS) in a press statement has asked the British High Commissioner to Ghana to ‘learn to keep within the limits of what concerns you(her)’.
This comes after the High Commissioner to Ghana, Harriet Thompson, quoted a news story published by MyJoyOnline on her Twitter handle. She tweeted “Oliver Barker-Vormawor, convener of #FixTheCountry movement, arrested again, I understand for motoring offence on his way to court. I’ll be interested to see where this goes …”
According to police reports, Mr. Barker-Vomawor was arrested separately among other drivers for violating road traffic regulations. All of them where arraigned before the courts where the subject pleaded not guilty of any offense, and the others where released and fined for pleading guilty. He was granted bail by the court and was released after fulfilling the bail conditions.
By this event, the GPS does not comprehend why the Commissioner chose to take interest in the arrest of the subject amongst many: ‘Against this backdrop and in view of the fact that he is not the only person who is being taken through due process for committing an offence, it is difficult to understand why he is your only focus. Are we to understand that you are concerned about the law enforcement process in Ghana or only as applied to your person of interest?’ Ghana questions the British Commissioner.
Oliver has been under the watch of the state since he threatened a coup d’état in Ghana should the Electronic Levy(E-levy) be passed. This was after a cake of the E-levy was said to have been presented to the Majority Leader in Parliament, Osei Kyei-Mensah Bonsu, on his 65th birthday in February.
The Police believe the statement from Barker-Vomawor threatens the Peace and Stability of the country and therefore ‘he was arrested and taken through due process and was granted bail by a court of competent jurisdiction’. As such, the tweet by the High Commissioner is seen as a breach of the ‘Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961 which enjoins diplomatic missions not to interfere in the internal affairs of their host nations’.
The Police Service pointed to how deviant persons were treated in the United Kingdom(UK) to safeguard the peace and security of their state.
“We note that some leaders of faith-based organizations in your country made pronouncements that were considered as national security threats, they were branded as terrorists, arrested, prosecuted and in some cases were extradited. This, we believe, your country did in its quest to safeguard the security of the state and ensure the sustenance of the peace the the inhabitants enjoy” the GPS wrote in the statement.
In order to ensure the same peace and security enjoyed in her country of origin, the Ghana Police Service posed 15 questions to the High Commissioner to ponder over:
i. Are there instances in your country where people are permitted to openly threaten the security of the state with a coup?
ii. In instances where individuals have threatened the security of a state, does your criminal justice system celebrate such persons and urge them on to destabilize your country?
iii. As a foreign Service officer, even though you might not have personal experience, you doubtless have access to the records of the periods of unrest and coups in Ghana; are you really wishing on us, a return to those times?
iv. Are you able to direct us to instances in your country where citizens are permitted to insult, attack and incite your Army and other security apparatuses to destabilize the country?
v. Do people get arrested for traffic offences in your country?
vi. Is it the case that a person on his/her way to a British court cannot be pulled over for traffic offences or other offences for that matter?
vii. Are you still persuaded, three days after your tweet, that you were within the bounds of the Vienna Convention which regulates the conduct of diplomats in the countries in which they serve?
viii. Should you get involved in the domestic/internal affairs, especially security issues of the sovereign state in which you are serving as a diplomat?
ix. Do you know of any instances where Ghanaian diplomats in Britain have involved themselves in your internal affairs?
x. Is there any particular reason why of all the people arrested daily for various offences in Ghana, you are especially interested in this person’s case?
xi. Is it the case that you don’t have confidence in our justice delivery, criminal justice system and our court processes as a whole?
xii. Do you know the number of Members of Parliament, Chief Executives, and other high-profile Ghanaians who have been arrested and prosecuted for road traffic offences and have submitted themselves to due process? If you care to know, we will be delighted to share the list with you.
xiii. Have the legally and intentionally accepted limits associated with freedom of speech and association been stretched to the point where people can now say and act without regard to the sanctity, security and the very survival of a country? When it comes to such matters, are there any limits in place in your country?
xiv. Are you interested in the number of lives lost to road accidents and the number of injured persons, as well as families who have become destitute as a result of such accidents, caused by the infractions of people like the person of interest to you?
xv. Have you taken note of the innovations being introduced by the Ghana Police Service in recent times to deepen discipline, law and order, as well as protect lives and property in this country? Are you interest that we are doing our best to get it right?
