Connect FM’s Paa Kwesi Simpson granted GH¢50,000 bail

• Fake kidnappings have become a trend in the Western region

• A journalist was arrested by the police at Takoradi

• The lawyer of the journalist said he was just doing his job

The Takoradi Harbour Circuit Court A has granted bail to Paa Kwesi Simpson, a journalist with Takoradi-based Connect FM, to the tune of GH¢50,000, over his connection with an alleged case of fake kidnapping in the city.

His bail is to be completed with two sureties, with one being a Sekondi-Takoradi resident, reports citinewsroom.com.

He is facing charges of publication of false news with the intent of causing fear and alarm to the public contrary to the Public Order Act, and false publication of news through an electronic device contrary to the Electronic Communications Act, 775 of 2008.

The journalist was picked up by the police in a case where a 26-year-old Stephanie Kumiwaa was alleged to have been kidnapped at Mpohor in the Western Region, with the kidnappers demanding GH¢2,000 as ransom.

Paa Kwesi, who is the host of the morning show on Connect FM, pleaded not guilty to charges leveled against him, with his lawyer, Ebo Donkor, pleading with the court to consider his client’s case as just someone who was executing his duties as a journalist.

The police had found out after checks at the Mpohor Police District Command, that there was no such case reported.