I can’t honour your invitation - Sammy Gyamfi calls CID’s bluff

Communications officer of the National Democratic Congress Sammy Gyamfi has called the bluff of the Police CID, stating he will no longer present himself to be investigated for his alleged involvement in a cybercrime case.

On the back of a complaint from the presidency, the CID invited, Mr Gyamfi on December 23 to the Police CID headquarters in Accra for possible questioning, but officers had to postpone it to the next day due to their other engagements.

But Mr Gyamfi, who is a lawyer himself, in a letter to the Police CID, stated that he will no longer honour the invitation citing new development in the case as the basis.

“Inasmuch as we wish to honour your invitation due to the respect we have for your institution, our client instructs us that we cannot honour your invitation due to change in circumstances,” the letter written by his lawyer Godwin Kudzo Tameklo said.

The case & matters arising

Mr Gyamfi is being accused of forgery and publishing false information to create fear and panic, something he has since denied.

The CID however have secured a court order to seize Mr Gyamfi’s phone and another directed at Facebook to grant the CID full access to his Facebook account to search for evidence.

This has triggered what appears to be a legal battle between Mr Gyamfi and the Police as the former has filed an application at the Human Rights Court to enforce what he said is a breach of his fundamental human rights and freedom.

He wants the high court to quash the order of the lower court.

This development, lawyer for Mr Gyamfi argued, makes it impossible for his client to subject himself to the Police CID to be investigated for the alleged cybercrime.

“Our client has filed an application for the enforcement of his fundamental human rights at the High Court in relation to the matter being handled by your office and an application for interlocutory injunction which have both been served on you through Evelyn Owusu(Secretary),” the letter said.

The decision to turn down the invitation, the lawyer explained “is purely on the grounds that honouring your invitation especially when we have misgivings and concerns about how the whole matter has been handled”.

The CID’s action, according to the lawyer, is a threat to the constitutional rights of Mr Gyamfi, and honouring the invitation “will not only prejudice the matters before the court but also have the potential to render such matters moot which we are not prepared to do so”.