The British High Commissioner to Ghana, Harriet Thompson, has refuted the police service’s assertions that her tweet about the arrest of the #FixTheCountry movement convener, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, was an act of interference.
Speaking to Accra Based GHOne, the High Commissioner suggested that there was no chance her comments via Twitter could rile up Ghanaians and foment insecurity, as was suggested by the police.
“If I had thought there was the remotest chance of that, I wouldn’t be tweeting things like that. That is clearly not my intention,” Harriet Thompson said.
Harriet Thompson’s tweet said: “Oliver Barker-Vormawor, convener of #FixTheCountry movement, arrested again, I understand [it’s] for a motoring offence [and he’s currently] on his way to court. I’ll be interested to see where this goes…”
The police responded with a strongly worded statement urging her to mind her own business when it came to matters of Ghana’s security and policing.
The police also said the tweet was a violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which enjoins diplomatic missions not to interfere in the internal affairs of their host country.
But Harriet Thompson said the police assertion felt like an overreaction.
“To me, it feels like a stretch. It feels like me saying I am interested in something is a long way from people saying we must take to the streets,” Harriet Thompson said.
“Commenting on something that is of great interest to a lot of people in a country is not interfering in the affairs of that country,” the High Commissioner added.
The comments came after Barker-Vormawor was arrested for careless and inconsiderate driving and non-observance of road markings at the East Legon tunnel in Accra.
Mr. Barker-Vormawor pleaded not guilty and was granted bail by the court.
He is also facing charges of treason felony after he made comments on social media that were deemed to be a coup threat.
Posted by: Emmanuel Romeo Tetteh
