Professor Henry Kwasi Prempeh, Executive Director, CDD-Ghana
The Executive Director of the Ghana Center for Democratic Governance (CDD-Ghana), Professor H. Kwasi Prempeh, has condemned the Ghana Police Service (GPS) following the arrest of a suspect over alleged false claims related to illegal small-scale mining (galamsey).
Prof. Prempeh, the Chairman of the Constitutional Review Committee, asserted that the police are “wasting scarce resources” on political defamation cases that should be handled through civil courts, arguing that their efforts must be urgently channelled into combating the national disaster of galamsey.
The controversy erupted following the police’s arrest of Wendell Nana Yaw Yeboah, the Head of Mobilisation for the civil society group Democracy Hub, on Wednesday, November 26, 2025.
Prempeh’s Charge: Misuse of State Resources
Reacting strongly on Facebook, Prof. Prempeh questioned the necessity of police involvement in disputes over reputation, particularly when Ghana faces an existential environmental crisis.
He insisted that pursuing such cases represents a “complete waste of scarce resources.”
He argued that any defamed Minister has clear, adequate non-police options under Ghana’s legal framework, which abolished criminal libel.
“Why is this a Police matter? The defamed Minister has a right to cause his alleged defamer to retract and apologise or face a civil defamation suit for damages. No need for Police involvement.”
The CDD boss then posed a direct and rhetorical challenge to the police’s selective enforcement: “Will the Police arrest a person who defames me, or is this Police Anti-Defamation Service reserved for Ministers and government officials? Go and fight galamsey, and stop wasting scarce resources policing defamatory speech against big people in government,” he wrote.
The Real Threat: Environmental Devastation
Prof. Prempeh’s call highlights the acute resource imbalance in the state’s security strategy. Galamsey activities are estimated to have corrupted a significant percentage of Ghana’s primary water sources, with toxic chemicals like mercury and cyanide posing immense public health and economic risks.
The Professor’s stance effectively argues that police manpower, logistics, and intelligence capabilities—resources that are financially limited—should be deployed to protect the nation’s environmental integrity and future, rather than focusing on the reputation of individual public office holders who have access to robust civil legal avenues for redress.
The Police Action and The Ministerial Petition
A statement issued by the police confirmed the arrest, noting it was executed by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) following a petition.
The police statement on Wednesday, November 26, said that following a petition for investigation received by the CID, submitted by Mr Daniel Sasu Omari and two others on behalf of the Ashanti, Eastern, and Western Regional Ministers, suspect Wendell Nana Yaw Yeboah has been arrested to assist the investigation.
Wendell Nana Yaw Yeboah was subsequently put before the court on Thursday, November 27, 2025.
Private legal practitioner Oliver Barker-Vormawor publicly expressed concerns about the development, stating on Facebook that the suspect was allegedly detained “on the orders of the government, for accusing Govt appointees of Galamsey.”
Barker-Vormawor tersely concluded, “Back to default settings,” suggesting a return to a pattern of using state security to suppress political commentary.
