Man who slapped Sam George (MP) identified; yet to be arrested

National Security minister Albert Kan-Dapaah says a national security operative who slapped an MP during a by-election has not been arrested even though he has been identified.

“It will be interesting to find out why he has not been arrested”, the minister, the second person to appear before the Commission of Inquiry looking into the violence that attended the by-election at Ayawaso West Wuogon.

That violence in that by-election on January 31, 2019, led to six persons being injured and which prompted wide condemnations from various pressure groups including the clergy.

In a video which has gone viral, a bulky-looking man jumped out of a vehicle and after approaching an opposition MP Sam George menacingly, threw his hands. The MP later said he was slapped.

But 14 days after the politically-motivated violence, the National Democratic Congress MP for Ningo Prampram constituency is yet to get justice.

The police have said it is investigating the mayhem and has assured the public it will ensure perpetrators of the violence are punished.

But it has emerged on the first day of the commission’s hearing that the man who slapped the MP has not been arrested.

The National Security minister Kan-Dapaah told the Emile Short commission the operative – whose name he did not disclose – has been questioned.

He reported that the operative had warned the NDC MP not to cause fear and panic by spreading false information.

At the time, the MP had been pacing up and down meters away from the vehicle on a park at Bawaleshie in Accra announcing that ‘a man had been killed in his own house’.

A claim that later turned out to be untrue.

The minister reported to the commission that the NDC MP was slapped after the operative’s repeated warnings were ignored.

Source: Ghana|myjoyonline.com