Upper East residents condemn police over the arrest, denial of bail of NAPAIC-Ghana secretary

Correspondence from Eastern Region

Residents of the Upper East Region have descended heavily on police authorities in the region for arresting the Secretary of the National Patriots against Injustice and Corruption Ghana (NAPAIC-Ghana) and refusing to grant bail to him.

Zumah Tii-roug, a well-known anti-corruption campaigner, was arrested on Friday, April 14, 2023, by the Upper East Regional Police Command after one Thompson Amartey, a GLICO field worker, claimed he attempted to extort money from him.

Tii-roug has been in police cells in Bolgatanga, the regional capital, since Friday up to today Sunday, April 16, 2023.

Residents who expressed interest in securing bail for him were told by the police that “an order from above” said he should not be granted bail.

Some residents who spoke to this reporter stated that the arrest of Zumah Tii-roug is to gag anti-corruption campaigners in the region from speaking.

“The Upper East Region has turned into a place where we cannot be sure of our security anymore. If judges who want to do the right thing are not safe and have to run away from the region because of violent attacks, we the ordinary people feel more insecure and we can’t be sure of justice. What is happening to Tii-roug was highly expected just as many people said they foresaw the attack on Justice Graham.

“The police in this region have been compromised against the people they are supposed to protect. We have heard that big men who are occupying big positions which they don’t deserve and have nothing good to offer society are behind Tii-roug’s arrest and detention just to punish him for being a thorn in their flesh. These corrupt big shots have been desperately looking for any little thing they can use against their critics,” said, Johnson Asoyire, when he joined other residents to visit Tii-roug at the Bolgatanga District Police Station on Sunday.

Another resident, Issifu Rahman, said: “They are targeting those who speak against them. That is their strategy. The region is in a serious mess and this mess has been worsened by a group of corrupt journalists who are supporting these corrupt big men, some corrupt chiefs and these exploitative Chinese mining companies in the region and writing and broadcasting false news against anybody who criticises these corrupt forces and their oppressive paymasters. The regional police command has now turned into a private company and an oppressive centre which some big and rich people are using to oppress the poor and the voiceless.”

We will not bow to intimidation— NAPAIC-Ghana declares

Meanwhile, members of NAPAIC-Ghana have announced plans to drag the Tongraan before the Special Prosecutor and petition state institutions against him in connection with his action that led Justice Graham to convict the two agents in March.

Members of the group say “no amount of intimidation and oppression” can deter them from speaking truth to “corrupt powers” in the region.

“They can target us. They can accuse us wrongly. They can arrest us. They can detain us. They prosecute us. They can jail us. They can even kill us in cold blood. We will not be silenced and our numbers shall continue to multiply. We will not bow to intimidation from the same evil forces who chased the good High Court judge, Justice Alexander Graham, out of this region,” said one of the group’s members, Reuben Abesiba.

On Friday and Saturday, a confident Tii-roug told his supporters from behind bars that he had a recording to prove that he never made any attempt to extort anything from Amartey (the GLICO worker) who was spotted and captured chatting with the wife of a rural bank worker inside a forest in Bolgatanga.

Tii-roug said he only approached Amartey to caution him against meeting married women alone at such isolated locations. He said he was surprised that Amartey, who claimed he was only praying for the woman in the forest, ended up levelling an extortion allegation against him. Tii-roug also indicated his intention to sue anyone who spread any lies of extortion about him.

The police have publicly told Tii-roug’s supporters that they have no intention to grant him bail and have made it clear that they will take him to court on Monday, April 17, 2023.

By Sunday evening, Tii-roug will have spent more than 48 hours in police custody contrary to Article 14 Clause 3 of the 1992 Constitution.