The New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) 2024 Parliamentary Candidate for Amenfi East Constituency, Ernest Frimpong, has been released by the Tarkwa Police Command in the Western Region.
Mr Frimpong was released on Wednesday evening after the police invited him for questioning over a video that has gone viral.
It would be recalled that Mr Frimpong was seen and heard in a video that has gone viral on social media telling illegal miners to attack any military or security officer who attempts stopping them from engaging in ‘galamsey.’
He urged them to initiate reprisal attacks on the military, promising them that himself, the MCE and the Western Regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko Mensah, who was present at the meeting, will always protect them.
The Parliamentary Candidate has denied the allegations, claiming his statements did not mean to endorse illegal mining or encourage miners to fight military personnel.
According to him, his remarks were taken out of context from a two-hour engagement with artisanal small-scale miners and emphasised that his intentions were misrepresented.
Meanwhile, the Municipal Chief Executive of Amenfi East, Mr Frederick Korankye has described the statements attributed to Mr Frimpong as “unfortunate.”
The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) subsequently issued a statement urging members of the public to desist from attacking soldiers as that would amount to a grave offence.