According to the Ghana Police Service, all of the remarks made by Bryan Acheampong, the minister of agriculture, and former president John Dramani Mahama passed the criminal threshold test.
The same was expressed of statements made by Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, national chairman of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the largest opposition political party.
However, the Suame NDC Youth organizer's remarks were obviously unlawful and against the law, leading to his detention and conviction.
This came after the Police Legal Unit carefully examined each politically divisive speech to determine whether it met the legal criteria for a crime before making an arrest.
According to excerpts from the meeting shared by Henry Nana Boakye, the National Organiser of the governing NPP, Dr. George Akufo Dampare, Inspector General of Police, made this disclosure after a meeting held by Police Service with the leadership of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and National Democratic Congress to discuss recent developments on the political front.
The NDC was also represented by Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, National Chairman, Fiifi Fiavi Kwetey, General Secretary, and Sammy Gyamfi, while the NPP was represented by Justin Kodua Frimpong, General Secretary, and Henry Nana Boakye, National Organizer.
In a brief speech, Mr. Dampare explained that the purpose of the meeting was to officially brief both parties on some petitions that the Police had recently received. These petitions, among other things, called for the arrest of some prominent politicians over alleged statements they had made that, in the petitioners' view, threatened the peace and security of the nation.
He reassured all parties that the Police were determined to uphold law and order by acting as neutral arbitrators.
Additionally, the Police provided both parties with an update on some of the actions it has put in place as part of the Police Transformation Agenda to provide a secure environment for all elections. The creation of a Permanent National Elections Security Taskforce Secretariat (NEST) to oversee and manage all elections-related security matters was foremost among these actions.
The creation of a Legal Unit to investigate any politically connected situations, ascertain any legal violations, and assess whether arrests and prosecutions are possible was another significant move announced by the Police.
The Police then gave both parties an update on their investigations into some election-related incidents that occurred in the 2020 general elections as well as the internal elections for both parties in 2022 in constituencies like Odododiodio, Ablekuma Central, Savelugu, Techiman South, Banda, Awutu Senya, Asawase, and Manso Adubia.