I asked the police to arrest him

Social activist, Ralph [L] and MP for Nhyiaeso, Dr. Stephen Amoah

The Member of Parliament for Nhyiaeso, Dr. Stephen Amoah, has confirmed that he caused the arrest of social activist Ralph St. Williams after feeling assaulted by him.

This follows the activist’s confrontation with the MP at the forecourt of Parliament ahead of the 2025 budget presentation on March 11.

A video shared on social media captures the social activist accosting the MP as he made his way to Parliament. Ralph, who appeared to be doing a live video on a social media platform, followed the MP and provided commentary about him, criticizing the lawmaker for failing to develop his constituency.

“This is the MP whose constituency I visited. The streets in his area are bad, the lights on the Sofoline Interchange are off. He has lived in this country for the past eight years. MP, keep your mouth shut in Parliament and allow the new Finance Minister to present what he has for Ghanaians. When he is done, your comments on his presentation should carry wisdom and should not be ones that sabotage the country. We are looking forward to having wise people in Parliament and not just politicians, so we hope you guys will keep your mouths shut today.”

Dr. Stephen Amoah, who had kept quiet all this while, at a point, could no longer tolerate the criticism from the social activist. He reacted by asking a police officer at the entrance of Parliament to intervene.

“It’s okay, you have said enough. Boss, he is attacking me. I beg, can you tell him to stop? Do you see what he was doing?”

At this point, the social activist stepped back, distancing himself from the MP.

However, the former Deputy Minister of Finance later had him arrested and explained why.

“Actually, I asked the police to arrest him because I felt assaulted. When we talk about assault, it means when one feels threatened and there is evidence of imminent physical contact. And everybody saw what he was doing to me in the morning, yet I composed myself very well. He continued in the afternoon, and I even availed myself for any interview, but I realized it wasn’t an interview he wanted. So, I felt that somebody was inducing him to do something bad to me. That is why I spoke to the police for him to be arrested.

“The Marshal just called through his phone, which surprised me. He called and spoke to me, saying that he wanted to handle the matter in Parliament. I said that if the activist demonstrates remorse and apologizes, which he did, then the issue could be addressed. So, the police said that since the matter had come this far, they had already taken my statement and needed to take his statement too. If we have to withdraw the case and resolve the issue with the Marshal, then we can do that.

“But I am quite astonished that somebody I have never seen in my life, someone I don’t know and have done nothing to, would behave this way. He was even mentioning Prempeh and Bantama, which are not in my constituency. The things I have done in my constituency are not things that anybody can sit anywhere and heap scorn on,” Dr. Stephen Amoah said.

The social activist was subsequently released by the police on Tuesday night.

I asked the Police to arrest him — Nhyiaeso MP, Stephen Amoah breaks silence following Ralph’s arrest pic.twitter.com/vGuLb3vaC1

— ThisIsNeneOdompleh (@The1957News) March 11, 2025

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Meanwhile, watch this Ghana Month special edition of People and Places as we hear the story of how the head of Kwame Nkrumah’s bronze statue was returned after 43 years, below: