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The pressure group, OccupyGhana, has expressed disappointment in the work of the committee established to investigate the arrest of a Citi FM journalist, Caleb Kudah, by operatives of national security. The group’s comment is coming on the back of the release of a report of the four-member committee tasked by the National Security Minister to investigate last week’s arrest. 

Speaking on Asaase FM Friday, spokesperson of the group,  Kweku Segbefia said the report leaves much more to be desired.

“My first reaction was, is that it? I was expecting something deeper, something better, so when I saw it I was disappointed, obviously in the brevity of the action they took…” he said.

Segbefia added: “First and foremost, is it that the committee then ruled that Caleb Kudah’s entry into the premises of the ministry of national security was unlawful, so the committee act as both prosecutors and judges and passed judgement on the action of the journalist.”

According to him, the work of the committee has failed to address the alleged brutalisation and assault of the journalist in question.

The pressure group says it maintains its initial call for government to set up an independent body of inquiry into the case.

Background
The Ministry of National Security has concluded its investigation into the circumstances surrounding the arrest of a Citi FM journalist, Caleb Kudah, and established that its officers’ conduct was “inappropriate and contravened the standard operating procedures” of the ministry.

Consequently, Lieutenant Colonel Frank Agyeman, the director of operations at National Security, and three other officers have been withdrawn from the ministry and asked to report at their respective bases for investigation.

In a press statement, the ministry said: “The secondment of Lieutenant Colonel Frank Agyeman (director of operations) at the ministry has been reversed. The officer is to report to the Chief of Defence Staff for further investigations and appropriate action.”

Three other National Security personnel involved in the arrest have been withdrawn and instructed to report to the Ghana Police Service for investigation.

The National Security probe also concluded that Caleb Kudah’s conduct in pursuing his story was “unlawful”.