Arrest 'Agyapadie' document publishers – Owusu Bempah tells Dampare

Ernest Kofi Owusu-Bempah, a Deputy Director of Communications for the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has called for an investigation into the publication of the controversial 'Agyapadie' document.

In a statement on August 6, 2024, he urged the Inspector General of Police, Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, to arrest those behind the document.

Bempah cites several legal provisions to support his call. According to him, Chapter 5, Article 21 of the 1992 Constitution guarantees freedom of speech and expression, including freedom of the press.

However, he explained that the 1960 Criminal Offenses Act (Act 29) and the Electronic Communications Act 2008 (Act 775) outline penalties for false publications that cause public unrest or endanger safety.

“I, therefore, call for an investigation into the entire Agyapadie publication and those believed to have orchestrated the publication to be fished out and followed up with a view to punish them in accordance with the relevant sections of the Criminal Offences Act.

"The publishers of Awake news and their collaborators have developed a penchant for the publication of fake news because they always get away with it regardless of the magnitude of such evil lies they peddle.

“As a country, we cannot look on for the NDC to always peddle brazen and wicked falsehoods and later turn around to say this is politics. On this current issue, the publishers of Awake news must be subjected to the full rigors of the law to deter them from hiding behind social media to create confusion in the system.

“The Inspector General of Police, Dr George Akuffo Dampare, as a matter of urgency, must arrest the people behind the publication of this fictional document and bring them to face the full rigors of the law," he is quoted to have said by 3news.

The 38-page Agyapadie document, which lacks an identified author, prominently features the Okyenhene, Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panin, on the cover, with President Nana Akufo-Addo and his late father on the subsequent page.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo addressed the rumorus regarding the document on August 1, 2024, dismissing its content as fictional and fictitious.

AM/EK

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