UK High Commissioner to Ghana’s tweet was wrong – Ambassador Ohene Agyekum

A Career Diplomat, Ambassador Ohene Agyekum, says the British High Commissioner to Ghana, Harriet Thompson erred in her Tweet over Oliver Baker Vormawor’s arrest.

He’s also slammed the Inspector General of Police, Dr. George Akuffo-Dampare over his response to the High Commissioner saying he had no business ranting clearly beyond his paygrade.

The High Commissioner had initially raised concerns on social media over the arrest of the #FixTheCountry Movement lead convenor, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, for traffic offenses.

“Oliver Barker Vormawor, the convener of #FixTheCountry movement, arrested again, I understand for a motoring offense on his way to court. I’ll be interested to see where this goes…” the diplomat tweeted a week ago.

In a four-page response to the British senior officer in Ghana, Dampare said the tweet violates the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961 “which enjoins diplomatic missions not to interfere in the international affairs of their host country.”

He questioned her locus in meddling in local police operations.

But H.E Harriet Thompson in an interview on GHOne TV explained she meant no harm in her Tweet expressing concern with the arrest of #fixthecountry convener for traffic-related offenses.

Commenting on the issue in an interview on Ultimate FM, Ambassador Ohene Agyekum pointed out that even though the embassy’s earlier comments about respecting Oliver Vormawor’s human rights were laudable; the specific issue on which the High Commissioner commented puts her on the wrong path of diplomacy.

Ambassador Ohene Agyekum has also taken a swipe at the Inspector General of Police whom he contends had no business ranting clearly beyond his paygrade.

Ambassador Ohene Agyekum once served as Ghana’s Ambassador to the United States of America and Canada.