Kwaw Kese seeks $1m damages against the state for 2015 marijuana arrest and conviction

Ghanaian

Rapper Kwaw Kese reflects on what he perceives as discrimination following his arrest and conviction for narcotics offenses in 2015, when he was caught smoking marijuana in public.

"I would communicate with my lawyers and seek compensation of about $1 million for the blot in my career,"

Read full articletarget='_blank' href='/GhanaHomePage/people/person.php?ID=323'>Kwaw Kese stated, emphasizing, "These things have dawned on me recently, Ghana has not been fair to me."

During an interview on Daybreak Hitz on Hitz FM, he highlighted disparities, noting that some foreign nationals caught on camera smoking marijuana were not apprehended, unlike his case.

"They don't have any proof that I was doing that. There's no shot that they could show that to say ‘we saw Kwaw Kese doing this’. It's hearsay, and I was jailed for it," he lamented.

Kwaw Kese alleged that the same authorities who arrested him now guard foreigners smoking in public without consequence, further asserting, "I have proof, I have evidence that shows that other foreign nationals have come to do the same thing I was jailed for."

In 2015, Kwaw Kese faced trial for narcotic offenses and was sentenced to a day’s imprisonment along with a fine of GHȼ1,200, an experience that has led him to advocate for prison reforms.

Expressing discontent, he compared his treatment to the leniency shown to Jamaican musician Popcaan during his public marijuana smoking incident in Ghana during the Year of Return, emphasizing the disparity in law enforcement.