The Editor-in-Chief of WhatsUp News, Mr. David Tamakloe, walked out of the clutches of the Police and National Security this afternoon after he went through the motions of a court appearance in New Edubiase over a publication that annoyed obviously made some quarters in the Akufo-Addo government uncomfortable.
The Management of Whatsup News and Mr. Tamakloe, a seasoned investigative journalist, have made it clear that the guerrilla-styled arrest and intimidation are very familiar territories that will not cow them from undertaking their constitutionally entrenched rights of gatekeeping.
“None of us on this team is a baby in journalism. We know these types of tactics too well. Rogue agents and Police arresting journalists over stories was something we thought we had long left behind. But if the march is anti-clockwise, back to the days of criminal libel, then we want them to know that they will only find thick skins at WhatsUp News,” he told a group of reporters whom he had granted interviews after his bail.
Mr. Tamakloe also used the opportunity to thank members of the media fraternity and all progressive forces supporting democracy for their concern and care during the brutal encounter with the Tesano and New Edubiase police divisions.
“I was overwhelmed by the show of concern. I am not even sure how the arrest leaked to people but those who effected it had meant it to be a secret. Many people from many places called my phone to either show concern or solidarity. Many of these people, I do not know and even though I was not allowed access to my phone at the time, I have since seen the traffic of missed calls. I am grateful to all of them,” Mr. Tamakloe said.
Yesterday, Mr. Tamakloe was ambushed around his office by two he-men who were driving in unmarked vehicles belonging to National Security.
The vehicles were packed with dozens of heavily-built men who looked menacing enough to cause Mr. Tamakloe to conclude that they were set to kill him.
The operatives, after pretending to be delivering a letter, pounced on him and flashed a bench warrant from a court in New Edubiase in the Ashanti Region. As it would later turn out, the bench warrant was in connection with a story that WhatsUp News had done in July.
The publication captured revelations by the National Democratic Congress (NDC)’s Director of Elections, Elvis Afriyie Ankrah that members of the Governing NPP who are also natives of New Edubiase had gone on a hunt of Ewes and Northerners in the area, asking them to leave.
According to the revelation, the New Edubiase natives felt they could not allow Ewes and Northerners who are perceived to be pro-NDC to register and vote in New Edubiase because the place is an NPP stronghold.
The hounding was apparently in the same style as the prowl by some NPP Ministers, including Deputy Minister of Finance, who had seized voters ID cards belonging to Ewes in the Eastern Region and branded them as Togolese. It would be recalled that these things happened as part of a general theme of ethnic profiling of Ewes and Northerners linked to the Akufo-Addo government.
WhatsUp News reported the story as revealed by Mr. Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, along with other media houses, including radio stations which had carried the story live. However, a few days after the report, WhatsUp News received a report that a reader of the paper had been arrested by the New Edubiase police over the story.
The paper got involved and explained to the Police on the phone that all it had done was to report something that has been revealed by the NDC and so if the Police thinks otherwise, it can contact the source of the story for clarification.
The Police never did that, and then yesterday, two officers in mufti waylaid the editor and whisked him to New Edubiase to face court over the story.
Meanwhile, readers who have read about the arrest have expressed shock at the development with many wondering if Criminal Libel has been re-introduced by the Akufo-Addo government into the statutes.
Readers have also been connecting the dots, with many pointing out that the guerrilla style arrest may not be unconnected to Whatsup News’ militant reportage on the stinking Agyapa corruption-ridden deal that the government is trying to push.
Whatsup News, along with The Herald newspaper, broke the story and have since led the news on the stinking deal believed to be an attempt by the government to put Ghana’s mineral royalties into the clutches of a few family and friends of the President.