Embattled Deputy General Secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Koku Anyidoho will be bailed today, Thursday after spending a night in police custody over a ‘treasonable’ comment, sources say.
This comes after former President John Mahama and some NDC bigwigs visited him at the Criminal Investigative Department (CID) Headquarters to show solidarity as well as intervene in the matter.
Koku Anyidoho was arrested and charged with treason for suggesting that President Akufo-Addo will be overthrown just like his father and the late Dr. K. A Busia due to the ratification of the controversial defense cooperation agreement between the US and the government of Ghana.
“Somebody should tell Nana Addo that history has a very interesting way of repeating itself. On the 13th of January 1972, a certain Colonel Ignatius Kutu Acheampong led an insurrection that removed the progress party from power. Busia was the Prime Minister and Akufo Addo’s father was the ceremonial President. Someone should tell Akufo-Addo that history has an interesting way of repeating itself,” Anyidoho warned on Accra-based Happy FM.
“There will be a civilian coup d’état. There will be a social revolution. We [NDC] are starting it on Wednesday. The movement is starting on Wednesday. Nana Addo will have sleepless nights. He will suffer diarrhea. He said he wanted to be president, but we will make sure he will be fed up on the seat,’’ he noted further.
A number of NDC members throng the CID headquarters to demand the release of Anyidoho but the police employed the use of water cannon vehicles and the firing of teargas to disperse them. The police said they had to use force to expel the crowd after diplomacy and negotiations had failed.
Former President Mahama who arrived from election-observation duties in Sierra Leone was driven to the Police CID headquarters, Wednesday evening to commiserate with Anyidoho.
Mahama was accompanied by Asiedu Nketia, NDC General Secretary; Julius Debrah, former Chief of Staff; and Betty Mould Iddrisu, former Attorney-General. He is said to have negotiated a bail for the NDC executive.
Earlier, the statesman criticized the Police for what he described as their ‘high-handed’ responses to “innocent” Ghanaians who massed up at the Police Headquarters on Tuesday night in solidarity with Koku Anyidoho.
“As a party that prides itself in the non-criminalization of speech, with a self-acclaimed human rights activist as President, the arrest of K. Anyidoho with armed men in the middle of a press event is obviously disproportionate. Moreso, the high-handed police response to innocent citizens waiting at the CID HQ is condemnable” his Facebook post read.
Meanwhile, the Accra High Court has ordered the Police CID to seize some essential electronic gadgets on which information related to the alleged treasonable comments made by Koku Anyidoho are said to be stored. The items to be seized under the order include laptops, iPhones and ipads.
Justice Patience Mills-Tetteh gave the order on Wednesday following an ex-parte motion issued at the court by the Police. The order also permits the police to search and seize electronic devices of ‘agents’ of Anyodoho.
Koku Anyidoho [L] was picked up by the police over 'treasonable' comments