Leader of the Democracy Hub, Oliver Barker-Vormawor, has pushed back against claims made by the Ghana Police Service regarding the payment of his medical bills while in detention.

In a post on his X account on Monday, October 14, 2024, Barker-Vormawor stated that although the police took him to the hospital, they failed to pay for his prescribed medication and medical tests.

"Yes, I can confirm the Ghana Police Service took me to the hospital and couldn’t pay for my drugs and medical tests.

"On the first day, they kept harassing the just-released protestors who came to see me at the hospital to pay for the medications prescribed by the hospital. They refused and called the police out on it."

He added that after news of this incident spread, the police reimbursed the money by sending mobile money (MoMo) to one of the protestors, Priscilla, to cover what they had taken from his brother."Eventually, my brother gave the CID 100 cedis to pay for part of the drugs. The other drugs prescribed were not procured. Also, they didn’t pay for the blood tests that I had to do that day. When the news broke that they didn’t pay for the drugs, they sent Momo to Priscilla, one of the arrested protestors, to reimburse the money they took from my brother," he revealed.

Barker-Vormawor also shared that when he returned to the hospital the next day, the police eventually paid for part of the remaining medication, but only after public pressure.

He has since challenged the police to provide receipts for the drugs they claimed to have purchased, giving them full consent to release the information. He further alleged that it's common practice for police to take detainees to the hospital and not provide the prescribed medication, citing his personal experience of having to buy drugs for another inmate just a day earlier."It is routine for the police to take several suspects to the hospital only to return without their prescribed drugs," he said, adding that he had personally purchased drugs for another inmate the previous day.

On October 11, 2024, the Ghana Police Service issued a statement asserting that they had covered all of Barker-Vormawor's medical expenses in accordance with their Standard Operating Procedures for suspects in custody. They also denied reports that he had been rushed to the hospital, labeling them as false.

Barker-Vormawor remains in custody after being denied bail, following his arrest with 52 other protestors for charges including unlawful assembly, assault, and defacement of public property during a demonstration against illegal mining (galamsey).