Samson warned Ghanaians to verify both the badge and the story when confronted by people claiming to be law enforcement. Speaking in his regular Newsfile segment, he urged caution especially when those approaching in plain clothes say they have come to arrest someone.
“Please, be careful,” Samson said. He advised anyone approached this way to ask for proper identification, find out which institution the person represents, and why they are being arrested. He urged people to ask to go with the officers to the nearest police station if there is any doubt. “Alert family or trusted persons. Have someone accompany you where practicable. Call your lawyer,” he added.
Samson stressed that while it is unlawful to physically resist genuine officers making a lawful arrest, no one should surrender blindly to unidentified individuals claiming arrest powers. He cited Article 14 of the Constitution and Section 10 of the Criminal Procedure Act 30, which outline rights around unlawful arrest and when resistance is lawful.
“A lawful arrest by genuine law-enforcement officers ought to be distinguishable from an abduction,” he said.
Aside from this warning, Samson addressed false allegations made against him by Kevin Taylor, who has long spread stories about his personal and professional life. Samson said these stories are not differences of opinion but outright fabrications. He described how Taylor has repeated a juvenile story about his breath for about a decade, a distraction Samson said does not relate to any public interest matter.
Taylor has also claimed that President Nana Akufo-Addo had pencilled Samson for a judicial appointment, urging followers to watch it happen. “Well, they watched. It didn’t happen. Did he retract the story? Did his followers demand the evidence on which he made it? No,” Samson said. Taylor later changed the story to say that Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia promised Samson a place on the Bench if he wins the next election.
Samson has publicly stated for years that he has no interest in joining the Bench or entering partisan politics. “If I ever change my mind, I believe I am eminently qualified to seek judicial office through the proper processes. I would not require a politician to procure it for me,” he said.
He challenged Taylor’s claims by asking for evidence: “When did Bawumia make this promise? Where? Through whom? What is the source?” Samson noted that Taylor’s followers apparently demand no proof, swallowing one allegation after another, even when exposed as false.
On another false claim, Taylor said Samson was involved as a lawyer in the controversial Agyapa transaction. Samson denied this, saying there is not one engagement letter, legal opinion, invoice, meeting record, or any document showing he acted as a lawyer for Agyapa. He pointed out that he moderated Newsfile discussions where the Agyapa deal faced strong criticism.
“This is precisely why serious journalism insists upon verification,” Samson said. “If you say a lawyer acted in a transaction, show the evidence. If you say a President selected somebody for judicial appointment, prove it. If you say another presidential candidate has promised him the same appointment, produce your basis.”
Samson reminded his audience that a microphone does not turn gossip into fact and that repeating a falsehood for 10 years does not make it true.
He explained why he has mostly refused to engage with Taylor’s allegations. “I have a family whose dignity I respect. I have professional colleagues. I have clients who entrust serious matters to me and are entitled to expect judgment and restraint from their lawyer. I have younger lawyers and journalists who watch what I do,” he said.
Samson said he has spent two decades building platforms that audiences trust for evidence, reason, and responsible discussion. This week, he conducted a residential workshop training media hosts, editors, and managers on media law, accuracy, verification, ethics, defamation, and responsible journalism. He acknowledged the irony of being drawn into public debate with someone who trades in insults and fake stories but said silence should not become proof supporting lies.
He also expressed respect for former President John Dramani Mahama, who has publicly condemned the rise of online insults and abuse poisoning public discourse.
Samson’s message to Ghanaians is clear: verify both the badge and the story before placing trust in anyone claiming official authority. The risks of mistaking abduction for arrest or accepting false allegations without evidence are too high to ignore.
According to Joy Online.
