The Ghana Police Service says it is forwarding the docket of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Parliamentary Candidate for Awutu Senya East in the Central Region, Phyllis Naa Koryoo Okunor, to the Attorney General.

This follows her arrest on the charge of transferring firearms without authority. She was granted bail along with three others.

The Attorney General is expected to review the case and provide advice accordingly.

A statement from the Service indicated that Naa Koryoo was cautioned on the offence.

Naa Koryoo was detained at the Cantonments Police Station on Friday, June 7, following an invitation, which angered NDC sympathizers who later besieged the premises to demand her release.

Background

On Sunday, June 2, 2024, the Ghana Police Service issued a statement claiming that three individuals were arrested at Ofaakor for possession of a firearm without lawful authority. The suspects, including Ms. Okunor, Mustapha Mohammed, and Abdul Aziz Musah, were apprehended while onboard a Honda CRV car with registration number GX-2044-19 near the Electoral Commission Office at Ofaakor.

During the arrest, a pump-action gun with four rounds of ammunition was retrieved from the vehicle. However, in an interview on Wednesday, June 5, Ms. Okunor emphasised that she was only invited by the police and not formally arrested.

She reiterated that the firearm found in her car was legally licensed. She also said she acquired the gun to protect herself from the incumbent NPP MP and Minister for Fisheries, Hawa Koomson, because the police had failed to protect her in previous altercations where the MP allegedly attacked her and in some cases fired gunshots.

“I have never been arrested. Yes, I was invited to the police station. I was not arrested. I was there because I had to go there.

“My driver was arrested, and my security guard was arrested because a licensed gun was found in my car…It was far away from the registration centre," she said.

Before the arrest over the possession of a gun, a clash between the NDC and the NPP at the EC's office at Ofaakor in the ongoing votes transfer exercise had led to the stabbing of Ato Koomson, the son of the incumbent MP and Minister of Fisheries, Hawa Koomson, who was hospitalised.

According to the NDC Parliamentary Candidate, she acquired the gun for her protection from the incumbent MP and Minister of Fisheries Hawa Koomson, who had threatened her in previous altercations and yet the police did nothing about it.