New Force Spokesperson Granted ¢20K Bail

The spokesperson of the New Force, Shalimar Abbiusi has been granted bail by the Kaneshie District court despite opposition by the National Investigations Bureau (NIB).

Her counsel led by the Member of Parliament for Madina Constituency, Francis Xavier Sosu, applied for bail after she was arraigned on December 7.

The court presided over Her Worship Abena Asor Owusu Amenyo admitted the suspect to bail at GHC20,000 with two sureties on Monday, December 11 after spending a week in the custody of the NIB.

The Belgian is accused of violating section 52 (1) (i) of the Immigration Act 2000 (Act 573), specifically “Obtaining for Yourself a Student Permit by False Declaration” but has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

According to Lawyer Sosu, the sureties are ready for her bail to be processed.

“As we are speaking, the sureties are willing ready and available to go and sign the bail. In fact, we have their Ghana cards and documents which they have supplied to the registrar of the court. We are just waiting for their homes to be inspected so that she will be released on bail.”

He further disclosed that the NIB is manoeuvring their way to unlawfully take her into their custody despite the bail by the court.

“It’s quite unfortunate that while this process is going on, the NIB is insisting that they want to take her into their custody. That we won’t agree because as a matter of law, when a person is granted bail, the person becomes a prisoner of the court and the court is dealing with the person.”

In court on Monday, the accused had her parents as well as supporters of the New Force solidarising behind her.

Arrest
The 30-year-old was arrested by the NIB after she was invited in for investigations on December 4. 2023.

According to a statement issued by the New Force, the NIB during her days in their custody tried to squeeze out of her, information about the Force and in the process infringed on some of her fundamental rights.

“As we have now found out, for the past 4 days, Ms Abbiusi has been kept continuously in custody by the officers of the National Investigations Bureau, formerly the BNI. During these 4 days, the security officials have continuously questioned Ms Abbiusi about the New Force; wanting to know which people are behind it and if the people want to run for President.

The political movement which is only known by billboards asserts that the government is only leveraging on the immigration status of Shalimar to clamp down on its growing influence in the country.

New Force
New Force, a new political movement in the country, was announced with giant billboards across the country with a masked man.

Though the objective and make-up of the movement are not yet known, it has, on its social media page- X- and its billboards promised “leadership for the next generation”.

With growing speculation and interest in the face behind the mask, the New Force has decided to unveil the mask soon.

In a statement later in November it said, “In light of this growing keen interest in what we have coming next, we would like to inform the public that we will in the shortest possible time by unveiling the Mask and communicating the rich and carefully thought-through policy objectives and goals.”