Ghanaian artist and founder of Tsadidi Street Art Festival, GlennSamm, who was part of the 53 people who got arrested after taking part in the ‘StopGalamseyNow’ protest has recounted what he went through while in police custody.
Speaking about the lessons he has learned from the whole encounter, Glenn said: “I’ve learned in everything just be wise and keep calm.”
He explained that his calm nature always got him composed even though he faced uncomfortable situations.
Recounting how his arrest happened, Glenn said he was seated at the bus stop at the El Wak Sports Stadium when he got picked up by the police.
“Monday, the protest didn’t even happen because we heard they were arresting some of our people. So, I was just sitting at the bus stop. If I am sitting at El Wak, that is not part of the protest grounds.”
GlennSamm
According to Glenn, he felt the police had people of interest they were looking for and that they probably came for him because of his looks.
GlennSamm noted that “Dampare likes to show off,” stating that he [Dampare] arrested the protestors to scare and put fear in them. “I wasn’t scared because I was fighting for a good course and if I committed a crime, my instincts would even give up on me, but all that time I was so positive,” GlennSamm added.
He revealed that they ]protestors] were treated like thieves.
A few weeks ago, some 53 people were picked up by the police for various infractions after protesting against illegal mining in Ghana.
This caused a lot of uproar among some Ghanaians who believed the punishments meted out to the protesters were “high-handed.”
Artist Recounts Experience at Teshie Police Station
GlennSamm shared a story about what he went through while he was in police custody, following his arrest during the ‘StopGalamseyNow’ protest.
He noted that one of the unpleasant situations he encountered was going two days without food.
“The food in there was terrible, and I’m very cautious about what I eat. So I didn’t eat for the first 48 hours. I was out of cash, and my family didn’t know where I was, so they couldn’t bring me any food.”
GlennSamm
He noted that for the 16 days that he was kept in police custody, he was shuffled between three police cells in Accra.
“From sleeping at the railways, the first day, and the second day, I did Teshie and that was my 48 hours. Then I was processed to court. And when we got to the court, the prosecutor came. The judge gave our lawyers 5 minutes to talk to us and they started. Along the line, they counted the offenses.
“It was like 6 charges. They told us to come back the second day for the final verdict, and when we came they told us to go for two weeks and come back. From there they moved me to Cantonment. It was there that I told my family where I was so they bring me food.”
GlennSamm
GlennSamm said while at the Teshie Police Station, he shared a single room with 27 people crammed into it. He said the place was overcrowded and the sanitation situation was abysmally poor. “A lot happened at the Teshie Police Station. There was no ventilation, and it was so crowded that you could only get fresh air by sticking your head into a small space,” the Ghanaian model indicated.
The artist further revealed that he arrived at the Teshie Police Station around 11 am and had to stand for 24 hours, adding that he ended up with a muscle pull.
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