On May 25, 2015, military men believed to be presidential guards assaulted Michael Creg Afful, a journalist with privately-owned Oman FM, in Ghana’s capital, Accra.
Reporting the incident in their May 26 edition, the Daily Guide newspaper said Afful went to Ashaiman to report on a dual carriage road being constructed by Engineers and Planners (E&P), a construction firm owned by Ibrahim Mahama, brother of Ghana’s President, John Mahama.
According to the newspaper, two military men reported to be presidential guards at the Flagstaff House, the official seat of Ghana’s president, were on site to guard Ibrahim Mahama.
Afful allegedly told Daily Guide that when he got to the site, he was taking pictures of the men working when he was approached by a military man who inquired why he was taking photographs of the workers and Ibrahim Mahama, who was also present. Before Afful could answer the question, however, another military man seized his phone and took it to Mahama.
The military man reportedly went through Afful’s phone and deleted the pictures he took at the scene. According to the Daily Guide, “the military man started slapping him there and then, whiles the other used a cane he was wielding to lash him severally”.
“It is alleged that the military officers carried out the assault on the orders of the president’s brother, who was said to have scrolled through the pictures on the mobile phone before returning it to the military officers– with the ranks of corporal and private– who were said to have been detailed to the Ashaiman road from the presidency”, the Daily Guide said.
According to the Daily Guide, Afful later reported the incident to the Ashaiman District police and was issued a police medical report form for a check-up at the Ashaiman Polyclinic.
“Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Hebert Sosu, Crime Officer of the Ashaiman District Police Headquarters, told Daily Guide that investigations had commenced into the case, and that the military personnel had confirmed seizing the cell phone of the journalist”, the newspaper said.
