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The Ghana National Association Teachers (GNAT), is demanding the immediate release of one of its members who has been arrested for allegedly insulting a district chief executive.

David Hammond was arrested last week by the police while teaching in a school at Ekumfi Otabanadzi in the Central Region. 

This was after the District Chief Executive of Ekumfi, Ibrahim Dawson, reported the alleged insult to the police. 

He has since been charged and has been remanded in prison custody for a week.

Speaking to Citi News, the General Secretary of GNAT, David Ofori Acheampong, said  the DCE abused his power by causing the arrest of the teacher.

“If they are people found not to have followed due process they need to be punished. We cannot allow things of this nature to occur in this present age where some DCEs feel they are so powerful such that if they have any conflict with any individual, they can manipulate the law and do what they want”, he said.

He further questioned the judicial processes that remanded Mr. Hammond into prison custody.

“The incident happened at Ekumfi which has a Magistrate Court which should have handled a case of assault, the case is then taken to Ajumako which has no jurisdiction over what happens at Ekumfi and the case is adjudicated there and the teacher is remanded. We find this very inappropriate,” he stated.

Meanwhile a separate statement issued by the leadership of GNAT in the Central Region, questioned why the teacher was not being tried at the court in Essarkyir where he was arrested instead of Ekumfi.

“We consider his arrest and incarceration as a show of intimidation and abuse of power on the part of the District Chief Executive (DCE) of Ekumfi…This act of ‘show of where power lies’ in this time and age of our country’s democracy is considered inferior.”

They further called for an “unconditional release of Mr. David Hammond from Prison custody.”

The Central Regional GNAT argued that Mr. Hammond was only expressing his opinion “on what he sees as discrepancies of facts according to the report” since it “will allay the fear and displeasure among teachers in the district.”

They also called on the Chief Justice to investigate the matter.

“We are also calling on the Chief Justice to investigate the circumstances that led to the trial and incarceration of Mr. David Hammond at Ajumako instead of Essarkyir where he was arrested. Essarkyir has a Magistrate Court that could competently have handled this case,” the statement added.