The Police arrested Nana Osei Mensah, a convenor of FixTheCountry in Tamale on Monday, December 19, 2022, during his tour to educate people in Tamale about the 1992 constitution and the need for reforms.
In a statement issued by the Civic movement, it said the educator, Nana Osei Mensah was arrested by “plain-clothed individuals in Tamale accosted and brutally assaulted a FixTheCountry Convenor while attempting to snatch his phone during the course of his work as a human rights and community educator for Democracy Hub (a Human Rights NGO).”
“The educator Nana Osei Mensah (a convenor of FixTheCountry) was part of a team of community educators recruited to educate people in Tamale about the 1992 constitution and the need for reforms.”
“The individuals, who it was later discovered were Police officers subsequently handcuffed Nana Osei Mensah and dragged him to the Police station.” The statement said.
The civic movement said the police attacked the educator when they heard a recording of a video in which he was “insulting the Ghana police service”.
“So far, the Ghana Police Service has refused to grant the educator access to his lawyers. His lawyers have formally petitioned the Northern Regional Police Command and the Inspector-General of Police regarding the matter.”
“FixTheCountry takes strong objections to the unconstitutional actions of the police and wishes to place on record that it is not a crime to record anything or a person in a public place.” the statement added.
This act according to the Civil group was offensive against the country’s constitution as a “citizen would be arrested for criticizing the Ghana Police Service on a video recording no matter how intemperate the language used.”
“We deplore the heavy-handedness, and the abuse of Police powers displayed in this matter and call on the Police Hierarchy to act swiftly to restore and respect the human rights of Nana Osei Mensah,” the statement added.
