Why did Emmaland Cardero Resources cause arrest of journalist?

It is hard to understand why Emmaland Cardero Resources, a mining company operating in Ghana would cause the arrest of a journalist doing the simple task of gathering and confirming information.

On the afternoon of Monday July 16, 2012, the correspondent of ghanabusinessnews.com, Pascal Kelvin Kudiabor who has gone to the offices of the mining company in Accra seeking answers to some questions was picked up by officials of the Ghana Police Criminal Investigations Department (CID) and held for about three hours.

Before today, Mr. Kudiabor has sent questionnaires to the management of Emmaland Cardero Resources by email on their exploration activities in the Sheini Hills Project, an iron ore mine in the Zabzugu-Tatale District in the northern region of Ghana.

He has had prior conversations with the company’s two public relations officials and the meeting with the Managing Director today was scheduled. But while he was in the MD’s office waiting, officials from the CID headquarters in Accra came in and told him their boss has asked for him to come with them to the CID headquarters.

Some time later, I was also invited to come over to the CID headquarters and I went.

I told the CID officials Mr. Kudiabor is a journalist doing a legitimate duty of trying to confirm a story with the company.

When I asked why he was picked, the officials said the company complained to them that he was ‘prying into their privacy’.

He was eventually released after he was made to write an ordinary statement in my presence.

It is still difficult to understand how openly asking a legally registered company doing legitimate business in Ghana questions could be a ‘prying into privacy’.

The officials however told us that they will call him if they needed to.

By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi