An activist of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Frank Mandela Bawumia has taken on Umar Sanda Amadu, a journalist with Accra-based Citi FM/Citi TV after the journalist complained of being harassed by personnel of the Ghana Police Service.
In a video shared on social media, Umar Sanda Amadu, who is the host of Citi FM’s flagship news bulletin program, Eyewitness News, is seen being harassed and almost stripped naked by police officers numbering about 3.
The incident, per his narration, occurred when the officers believed to be personnel of the SWAT unit stopped him and demanded to search his car for drugs and weapons.
While searching in all compartments of the car in their attempt to find something that will implicate the journalist, the officers are heard verbally abusing and heckling him.
After the search, Mr. Sanda served notice that he will sue the officers for verbally abusing him but the security personnel called a bluff of his threat to sue them and dared him to sue them even in “the moon court”.
The video has since gone viral on social media stirring public outrage.
But in series of post on social media reacting to the public outrage over the incident, the NPP’s activist argued that the police officers did nothing wrong. He stated that the police undertaking such random search is well within their mandate and Mr. Sanda cannot be excluded from such an exercise since nobody is above the law.
For him, the host of Eyewitness disrespected the security personnel when he questioned the officers demand to search his vehicle and insisted on taking visuals of the search. He also took on the journalist for supposedly acting as if his position in the public space puts him above the law and interrogation by the security service.
“I think Umaru was wrong,” he said in one post. In another post he stated “you cannot be above the law. No one is. Respect the Police.”
He added “the Police can stop and search any vehicle at any time any where. Nothing wrong with that.”
