In the wake of hiplife artiste, Kwaw Kese’s arrest for smoking marijuana in public, so many people have raised eyebrows about the moral justification of the arrest when other artistes like Chris Brown were left off the hook for the same act.
Many more seem agitated over what they describe as double standards, when recently, Ghanaian musicians, King Ayisoba and Ekow Micah’s open confession to the use of the same substance- cannabis, did not earn them days in the cooler.
Legal practitioner, Maurice Ampaw, has said in an interview with Abrantepa on Radio Univers’ Brunch2Lunch that, the police should invite and interrogate King Ayisoba and Ekow Micah for confessing of a criminal act lest, they encourage impunity.
“When someone confesses in his private life, you would have to delve into the kind of confession. We should bear in mind that criminal offences have no expiry date.
If someone says he used to smoke, he may either be bluffing or advising someone on the consequence of smoking. However, if someone says he smokes and sees nothing wrong with that, that person should be invited by the police.
How can somebody confess of a criminal act without the police inviting him? If you do that, you encourage impunity”, he noted.
Adding, “If the police had invited and interrogated them, it would have served as a deterrent to others. The police institution should take notice of this and quickly invite everyone who has made statements to the effect that they smoke, interrogate them, take assessment and arraign them before court if the evidence is enough.
There is no difference between them and Kwaw Kese. Some even say it’s their constitutional right to smoke. This is impunity! If the police don’t act, Kwaw Kese’s prosecution will be unfair”.
Lawyer Ampaw remarked that if a comment is meant to sensitize people about the consequence of smoking, the person could be forgiven for embarking on public education.