Barely days after Asamoah Boateng haughtily threw his perceived political weight about, the District Chief Executive of the Ketu District, Mr. Justice Kudjo, in a similar needless show of power and display of arrogance, last week ordered the arrest and detention of Mr. M. K. Kudufia, a teacher of AME Zion School in Denu, for no justifiable reason.
The DCE ordered the arrest when the teacher went to the District Assembly to process documents relating to a scholarship that has been granted by the Member of Parliament for the area, Hon. Zigah, from his MP’s Common Fund, to a brilliant but needy product of the Denu AME Zion School.
Using the excuse that he suspects that a letter that the teacher was presenting as coming from the MP was a forged document, a matter that could have been easily resolved with a single telephone call to the MP, the DCE had the hapless teacher arrested by the Police and compelled to endure the indignity of losing his freedom.
It took the intervention of the MP’s Secretary and PRO, Mr. Daniel Agbolosoo and Mr. Sylvanus Amedorme respectively, to secure the release of Mr. Kudufia after they confirmed the authenticity of the letter by producing copies of the said letter from the MP’s file to the District Commander, DSP Mr. Sackitey. Speaking to The Ghanaian Lens shortly after his release, Mr. Kudufia expressed surprise that the DCE ordered his arrest and detention over a matter that could easily have been resolved if only the DCE did not have an ulterior motive.
He expressed the belief that the DCE ordered his arrest as a way sending a message of intimidation to supporters of the MP such that they would be really hesitant to take advantage of whatever programmes the MP may line up for them but which requires the collaboration of the DCE or the District Assembly.
“I have since been told that the DCE is eyeing the seat, and these are just a few of the tricks that he is employing with a view to making the MP unpopular to enable him unseat him,” Mr. stated.
Narrating the circumstances leading to his needless arrest, Mr. Kudufia stated that a product one Master Avissey Denis Quadjo, who happened to be an orphan and had aggregate 8 during last year BECE, was granted a scholarship by the MP to enable him further his education.
“The scholarship is from the MP’s share of the Common Fund, which is administered by the District Assembly. I took a personal interest in seeing to it that this brilliant but needy student furthers his education, so I collected all the documents from the MP, who had then gone to Accra, and went to the District Assembly to process the documents,” he narrated.
He continued, “at the District Assembly, the District Finance Officer asked me to go and make photocopies of the documents before they are processed. I went and made some copies, but they were black and white, so the DFO asked me to go back and make colour copies. I did, and on my return, the DFO took the documents to the DCE in his office.”
“Shortly afterwards, the DCE came out of the office and without so much as affording me an opportunity to explain whatever he might have observed as wrong with the documents, he ordered my arrest and detention,” Mr. Kudufia lamented. “Thankfully, the MP’s secretary and PRO were in town and they came to my rescue. Truly, if they were not to be in town then, I would have had to be detained overnight,” said Mr. Kudufia as he shuddered at the thought of having to spend the night in police cells.
Meanwhile, as at the time of going to press, the MP has expressed his total commitment to ensuring that young Avissey and other such brilliant but needy pupils in his constituency get the needed assistance to further their education.
