A known NPP activist and Assemblyman for Dumasua Electoral Area, Mark Tetteh, who was arrested for masterminding the burning of a tollbooth at Fiapre, near Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo Region, has been granted bail by the court.
He is being accused of leading a group of NPP supporters last Friday to burn the tollbooth after the party’s presidential candidate was declared winner in the December 7 general elections.
The man, believed to be in his 40s, was arrested Monday morning at about 10:30 and appeared in court today. At the Sunyani Magistrate Court on Tuesday, Mark Tetteh pleaded not guilty and was granted a GHC10,000 bail with one surety to be justified, TV3’s Johnson Takyi reports. He is to reappear on December 20, 2016.
The declaration of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as the winner sparked wild jubilation across the country Friday night with reports of attacks on some supporters of National Democratic Congress, and destruction of some state properties. The Fiapre tollbooth, which Mark Tetteh allegedly got destroyed, is along the Sunyani -Berekum road.
He is reported to have ordered the attendants to move out for him to take over the management of the place. Eyewitnesses say the attended demanded for a letter from the Ghana Highways Authority giving him the authority to take over the place, which Mark Tetteh failed to produce.
He left the place and later returned with large crowd of party supporters holding gallons of petrol. They ordered the attendants to move out, which they readily complied with, paving the way for the crowd to set the tollbooth ablaze. The police mounted a search for him until Monday when he was arrested.
The tollbooth makes about 2,000 to 3,000 cedis daily.