Foiled Instability Plot Not Set Up – Oppong Nkrumah

Government says it did not fabricate the story about a plan with some individuals to overthrow the government as claimed by some persons.

The Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah while speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Tuesday said the report put out by the government was based on the adequate evidence it had gathered on the secret plot of the accused persons.

Many Ghanaians are challenging the government on its statement that three key persons had been arrested for masterminding an attempt to take over key government installations and take over the reins of government.

Some have said that the ammunition and weapons found with the accused persons did not appear to be sophisticated enough to warrant government’s belief that the arrested persons indeed wanted to take over the government.

But Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah said, “the government will not fabricate something as dire as this if it had not transpired. If there is evidence that backs these briefs that we have been given by the security agencies, this evidence has been made available to the court of competence to adjudicate on that and I think that beyond that any other speculation that this is a red herring we can put all of that aside and focus on the real issue and deal with it.”

Meanwhile, some military officers who are said to the part of the reported grand scheme have been picked up by police and are being interrogated.

The government in the Tuesday statement said security agencies in a dawn operation on Friday arrested three suspects and seized several weapons, ammunition and explosive devices at the Citadel Hospital, at Alajo and another location at Bawaleshie [Kpone] near Dodowa in Accra.

The suspects are Dr. Frederick Yao Mac-Palm and Mr. Ezor Kafui, a local weapon manufacturer and Bright Allan Debrah Ofosu.

According to a statement from the Ministry of Information, the joint operation was carried out after fifteen months of surveillance and evidence gathering on the activities of the suspects and other persons.

“The joint operation was to neutralize an elaborate plot targeted at the Presidency, and with the ultimate aim of destabilizing the country. The arrest and seizure come after fifteen (15) months of surveillance and gathering of evidence on the activities of the prime suspects and others.”

According to the Information Ministry; “Between June and August 2018, BB, acting for and on behalf of Dr. Mac-Palm, contacted a number of serving military personnel, and talked them into hatching and executing a plot to obtain weapons, take over key installations, and secure funding for the purpose of taking over the reins of government. These meetings were closely monitored,” the statement added.

It said, weapons and ammunition found at the Citadel Hospital after a search included:

---citinewsroom