God Rescued Me From Lion's Den - Nana Darkwa

Nana Darkwa Baafi, the 27-year-old man who narrowly escaped a fortnight�s stay at the Nsawam Medium Security Prisons after Judge Wilson gave the order with lightening speed during his first appearance in court, expressed gratitude to the Almighty God for sparing him the ordeal. Speaking to Daily Guide exclusively yesterday as he prepared to go to the Presbyterian Church at Accra Newtown with his parents, Mr. Kweku Baafi and Mrs. Mary Agyekum Nyanor, he said: �I am going to church to offer thanks to God for rescuing me.� He took issue with the Greater Accra Regional Police Commander, ACP Rose Bio-Atenga who told a host of radio stations on Friday morning that the young man was under siege and that she and her men went there to rescue him. It was the Almighty God, he said, who saw him through the ordeal he underwent last Thursday when he was arrested in a combined operation between the Greater Accra Regional Police Commander Rose Bio-Atenga and Kofi Adams, the Special Aide to ex-President Jerry John Rawlings, at the studios of Top Radio, an Accra-based radio station. He was said to have made unguarded remarks about ex-President Rawlings� fire gutted Ridge residence while contributing to a radio programme. Young Nana Darkwa also refuted the Police Commander�s assertion on radio that he begged the Police for mercy when he was told about the import of his action, while speaking on Top Radio last Thursday. �I want to put it on record that I did not beg them. I never begged anybody as Madam Rose indicated on the airwaves. �At the Crime Officer�s office, the officer opened the Criminal Code and read out Section 208 and told me that I had published falsehood and caused alarm in the public�. According to Nana Darkwa, who has become an instant hero of Ghanaian politics, he told the officers: �I never knew what I said caused alarm among the public. Even in my caution statement I stated that I am not aware I caused alarm and fear among members of the public. All the same I thank Almighty God, Minority in Parliament and NPP members�. His expression of gratitude was also extended to the Ghanaian media, which saved him from what would have been an unwarranted sojourn in prison. On the events of last Thursday, he said, �Before God and man when I saw Kofi Adam in the studio, I did not panic until he left and the Regional Crime Officer came to take me for interrogation. That was when I was frightened because I sensed danger. I watched through the window and saw a noisy NDC mob which had blocked the road.� He said the Regional Crime Officer took him to the Deputy Regional Commander �where I saw a lot of senior police officers. �The Regional Commander, Rose Bio-Atenga asked �Is this the boy who was sitting on radio and making those comments? Take him away for interrogation��, he narrated. He felt the police boss was unnecessarily hostile. �She was harsh on me,� Nana Baafi said. The young man, who has become a freedom of expression hero overnight, said his interest in politics blossomed since the age of 12. He completed Accra High School in 2005 and proceeded to the Trans Africa College to study journalism. He did his National Service with the Information Services Department in Ejura, Ashanti Region, acknowledging the support Sheikh I.C. Quaye rendered him throughout his school days. �Sheikh I.C. Quaye has been my role model and mentor and whenever he is on the campaign trail, I listen to him attentively in order to learn the ropes about politics,� he said. Although born in Accra, Nana Darkwa hails from Kumawu in the Ashanti Region and is an active NPP member in the Ayawaso Central constituency in the Greater Accra Region. His arrest and subsequent remand caused disturbing political backlash in the country, resonating on the international scene, with networks like the BBC finding space for it on their bulletins. Nana Darkwa, by the terms of his bail, is supposed to report to the Police today. Meanwhile, the Minority in Parliament is bent on continuing their boycott until the case is totally dropped. In their reaction to the development, the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has also appealed to the Attorney General, in whose name all criminal cases are prosecuted, to quash the case. A cross-section of democracy watchers has described the development as an infraction on the freedom of expression. President Mills was said to be unaware about the development as it unfolded last Thursday and quickly condemned the arrest of the young man.