Member of Parliament for Suame and Counsel for the Minority Caucus, John Darko, has strongly criticized the arrest of media personality Okatakyie Afrifa, questioning the rationale behind the move and the treatment he received while in detention.
Speaking on Eyewitness News on Citi FM on Thursday, Mr. Darko expressed his disapproval of the actions taken by national security, particularly their justification for arresting Afrifa under the pretext of seeking his assistance in combating illegal mining, commonly known as galamsey.
“What was the basis for arresting Okatakyie Afrifa?” Mr. Darko asked. “After threatening him with handcuffs, after arresting him, keeping him in national security custody for over three hours or four hours, we are told that he was supposed to help the national security to fight galamsey.
“What are you talking about? Are you asking a private citizen right now to come and help you fight galamsey when you are the national security institution that has all the available information, all the available tools to conduct your investigation? You come to a private citizen to help.”
He further criticized the justification provided, arguing that it exposed a lack of planning and accountability within the national security apparatus.
“You know why they are saying this—because they realized that they had guffed so much. There was no reason to arrest the gentleman,” he stated.
Mr. Darko urged the public to resist such actions, stressing the need to uphold fairness and protect societal values.
“We should resist that… We need to do that to save our society,” he said.