The New Patriotic Party (NPP) 2024 parliamentary election candidate for Amenfi East Constituency, Ernest Frimpong, has been released from Tarkwa Police Command in the Western Region.
Frimpong was released on Wednesday evening after police heard his statement regarding the comments he made in the viral video.
The candidate was arrested after a video was circulated in which he appeared to urge miners to retaliate against police officers and soldiers trying to extort money.
Ernest Frimpong denies the allegations and says he does not support illegal mining or encourage miners to fight against soldiers.
He argued that his remarks had been taken out of context during a two-hour discussion with small-scale artisanal miners and stressed that his intentions had been misrepresented.
Meanwhile, Wassa Amenfi East Municipality Mayor Frederick Korankye condemned Frimpong’s comments.
He called on miners to cooperate with security agencies as part of efforts to eliminate illegal mining activities in the area.
Korankye stressed the importance of following legal procedures in mining. He urged would-be miners to comply with Ghanaian laws and obtain the necessary documents and permits before embarking on mining operations.
“The government is preparing the paperwork to carry out the work as per the guidelines set out in the Mining Act, so I will appeal to the miners, we cannot sit back and watch them continue as they are and destroy the land because the land is in fact ours.
“So the military comes from time to time to make sure they are doing the right thing. Every year at the beginning of the year there are a lot of armed robbery cases around here and when that happens we rely on the security forces to come and help us. So we can’t attack them and then come later and ask for help,” he said.
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