ASEPA boss in police grips, charged with false news publication

Mensah Thompson, the Executive Director of the Alliance For Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA), is in the grips of the Ghana Police Service, Accra-based Citi FM have reported.

He was held after honouring an invitation by the Teshie District Police Command and has also been slapped with a charge of publication of false news.

Thompson, according to reports will be arraigned before a Kaneshie District Court tomorrow, Thursday, February 10.

Thompson’s ‘fake news’ post and GAF reaction

On 7th January, Thompson posted an allegation on his Facebook wall, the first two paragraphs of which read: “So between the 20th and 30th of December, 2021..during the Christmas, the children of a close relative of the President took Ghana’s Presidential Jet the Falcon EX jet on a trip to the UK just for Christmas shopping.

“They didn’t go alone, they went with their friends and partied in the sky all through the trip, taking snap videos and flaunting their lucky adventure.”

The Ghana Armed Forces subsequently issued a statement, dated January 9, 2022, dismissing the entire post describing it as a figment of the imagination of the author.

It also explained that the jet had in a long time not made a trip to Europe and that available records will prove that.

That letter’s last paragraph said the military had reported the issue to the Inspector-General of Police for further investigation given the gravity of the allegations.

Thompson on his part withdrew the contents of his post stating that he had sought some information on the said trip from the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority, GCAA.

It is unknown to GhanaWeb whether he has received a response from GCAA as yet.

Mensah Thompson’s January 23 post on Police invitation

On January 23, Thompson confirmed via a Facebook post that he had been invited to the CID headquarters to “answer questions on my publications on the Presidential jet.”

“Prior to that the Police had called PowerFM asking for the location to our office, when the complaint they received had details of my contact which they could have reached out.

“Well tomorrow at 10AM, in the company of my lawyers, I shall be honoring the invitation of the CID at the CID Headquarters to answer any questions they may have concerning the publication I made in my capacity as the head of a Civil Society Organization with key responsibility to check government and it’s agencies!!!” his post read.

The following day he posted an update to the effect that read as follows: “The CID who called me to report to the CID quarters this morning just called me that he has recieved further instructions I should rather report to Teshie Rasta Police station.

“Instructions from who? I cannot tell….Why he cannot tell me!!”