General News of Wednesday, 27 September 2017
Source: Graphic.com.gh
2017-09-27
Appiah Stadium was arrested for ‘insulting’ President Akufo-Addo
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has directed the police to drop the case against member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Frank Kwaku Appiah, alias Appiah Stadium.
Appiah Stadium was arrested on Tuesday by the Ashanti Regional Police to substantiate an allegation that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo smokes ‘wee’ [marijuana], which is a banned substance in Ghana.
He has since been given a police enquiry bail and has further apologised to the President over his comment.
A statement issued by the Minister of Information, Mustapha Hamid, said the President has informed the police administration that he is not interested in the matter and has asked them to be accordingly advised.
According to the statement, the President’s decision is informed by similar claims by pro-NDC newspapers who failed to substantiate their claims when they were asked to do so.
Consequently, the statement said, “H.E. Nana Akufo-Addo wishes to state that he is not interested in pursuing the matter…”
Below is the full statement
Arrest of Frank Kwaku Appiah
The President’s attention has been drawn to the arrest of one Mr. Frank Kwaku Appiah, popularly called Appiah Stadium for spreading lies about him (the President).
H.E. Nana Akufo-Addo wishes to state that he is not interested in pursuing the matter since same was ruled upon by the National Media Commission (NMC) on February 6, 2015. This followed series of publications in pro NDC news papers making similar claims.
Lawyers for then Candidate Akufo-Addo took these nears papers namely The Al-Hajj, Enquirer. Informer, Ghanaian Lens and the Daily Post to the NMC to afford them the opportunity to substantiate their claims. They failed to do so, following which the NMC asked them to retract and apologise. The President is therefore, convinced that right thinking Ghanaians recognise that Appiah Stadium is merely reciting from an NDC propaganda book, which has since been discredited.
The President has informed the Police administration that he is not interested in the matter and has asked them to be accordingly advised.
