The National Youth Organsier of the ruling New Patriotic Party, Henry Nana Boakye (Nana B), has called for the immediate arrest and possible prosecution of the Executive Director of Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA) Ghana.
Mensah Thompson in a recent Facebook post reported that some children of a close relative of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo were allowed to use the state’s Presidential Jet for a UK shopping trip.
Following a response from the Ghana Armed Forces denying his allegations, Mensah Thompson has withdrawn his statement and issued an apology to the army.
But reacting to the allegations and the subsequent apology by Mensah Thompson, the NPP National Youth Organiser said the ASEPA boss over the period has developed a penchant for “spewing outright lies and false allegations ostensibly to incite the public and endanger lives.”
According to Nana B, Mensah Thompson has become persistent in making unfounded allegations because he does so and gets away with it. However he believes that the recent allegations by the ASEPA boss are one that must not be allowed to go unpunished.
“On this current issue, he must be subjected to the full rigours of the law to deter him from hiding behind social media to create confusion in the system. We can’t look on for him to always peddle brazen and wicked falsehood and later turn around to say “I am sorry, I apologise for peddling falsehood”. There are laws in this country and he must face it squarely. He must be arrested immediately,” he wrote on his Facebook page.
Nana Boakye who is a legal practitioner grounded his call in Section 76 of the Electronic Communications Act, 2008 (Act 775) which states that:
(1) A person who by means of electronic communications service, knowingly sends a communication which is false or misleading and likely to prejudice the efficiency of life-saving service or to endanger the safety of any person, … commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine of not more than [thirty-six thousand Ghana Cedis] or to a term of imprisonment of not more than five years or both.
(2) A person is taken to know that a communication is false or misleading if that person did not take reasonable steps to find out whether the communication was false, misleading, reckless or fraudulent.
In his apology to the Ghana Armed Forces, Mensah Thompson said “I have had an extensive conversation this morning with the PRO of the Ghana Armed Forces pursuant to the usage of the Presidential jet by the children of the relatives of the President.
“In the same medium I made the earlier publication, I withdraw the publication pending an official response from the GCAA. I unreservedly apologise to the Ghana Armed Forces if their image was in anyway affected by my publication.
“We shall put out for your consumption the response to our request from the GCAA records of the Falcon 900-EX,” he said.
Mensah Thompson’s allegations
Mensah Thompson in a Facebook post shared on Friday, December 7, 2021, which he has since deleted alleged that Ghana’s Presidential jet had been made available for the personal use of the president’s relatives.
According to Mensah Thompson, some children of a close relative of the president between December 20 to December 30, 2021, were allowed to use Ghana’s Presidential Jet for a shopping trip to the UK.
“So between the 20th and 30th of December, 2021, during the Christmas, the children of a close relative of the President took Ghana’s Presidential Jet the Falcon EX jet on a trip to the UK just for Christmas shopping.
“They didn’t go alone, they went with their friends and partied in the sky all through the trip, taking snap videos and flaunting their lucky adventure,” he alleged.
However following a public denial by the Army and a private engagement with the Ghana Armed Forces, Mensah Thompson has made a retraction and issued an apology for his allegation.
In his apology to the Ghana Armed Forces, Mensah Thompson said “I have had an extensive conversation this morning with the PRO of the Ghana Armed Forces pursuant to the usage of the Presidential jet by the children of the relatives of the President.
“In the same medium I made the earlier publication, I withdraw the publication pending an official response from the GCAA. I unreservedly apologise to the Ghana Armed Forces if their image was in anyway affected by my publication.
“We shall put out for your consumption the response to our request from the GCAA records of the Falcon 900-EX,” he said.
ghanaweb.com
