Minority Leader and Member of Parliament for Effutu, Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin, has strongly condemned the arrest and prosecution of Bono Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwame Baffoe, describing it as “state-sponsored political persecution” aimed at silencing opposition voices in the country.
Speaking at a press conference in Accra on Sunday, May 18, 2026, Mr. Afenyo-Markin accused the government of President John Dramani Mahama of using state institutions and security agencies to intimidate critics and suppress free expression.
According to him, the prosecution of Abronye DC over comments made in a social media video represented a dangerous attack on democracy and constitutional freedoms.
“This is state-sponsored political persecution. And it must stop,” he declared.
Abronye DC was arraigned before Accra Circuit Court 9 on May 13, 2026, on charges of offensive conduct conducive to breach of peace and publication of false news under Sections 207(1) and 208(1) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29).
The charges stem from comments in which the outspoken NPP communicator allegedly criticised the conduct and impartiality of a Circuit Court judge.
However, Mr. Afenyo-Markin argued that criticism of public officials, including judges, was protected under Article 21 of the 1992 Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech and expression.
“The arrest, prosecution and remand of a citizen for words spoken in the public square is not justice. It is persecution,” he stated.
The Minority Leader further criticised the court’s refusal to grant bail to Abronye DC despite the offences being misdemeanours.
According to him, the prosecution opposed bail on grounds that the accused could repeat similar comments if released, an argument he described as unconstitutional and deeply troubling.
“A citizen imprisoned not for what he did, but for what he might say. That is not law. That is censorship from the bench,” he argued.
Mr. Afenyo-Markin also questioned the decision to remand Abronye DC into the custody of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), insisting that criticism of a judge could not be treated as a national security matter.
“The BNI is Ghana’s state intelligence and security service. It is not a remand prison,” he said.
“This has nothing to do with criminal justice and everything to do with political intimidation.”
The Minority Leader alleged that the arrest of Abronye DC formed part of a growing pattern of intimidation against members of the opposition since the Mahama administration assumed office in January 2025.
He cited several incidents involving NPP communicators and activists, including the arrest of David Essandoh over a social media post about power outages, the prosecution of Abubakar Yakubu and the arrest of Alfred Ababio Kumi.
Mr. Afenyo-Markin further referenced the attempted arrest of John Ntim Fordjour after the legislator publicly raised concerns over suspicious aircraft movements in the country.
“These are not isolated incidents,” he stressed.
“The message spreading across the opposition is clear — this is what dissent costs.”
According to him, the government was gradually recreating the atmosphere of fear and repression associated with Ghana’s past “culture of silence.”
He accused the Mahama administration of using Sections 207 and 208 of Act 29 to indirectly restore criminal libel laws abolished in 2001 under former President John Agyekum Kufuor.
“Rather than restore criminal libel openly, this government is reconstructing it in practice,” he alleged.
“The mechanism is the same. The consequence is the same — arrest, remand, imprisonment and silence.”
Mr. Afenyo-Markin insisted that Ghana’s democracy was built to protect the right of citizens to criticise those in authority without fear of arrest or intimidation.
“The freedom to speak, to criticise power and to hold government accountable is not a privilege granted by any administration,” he said.
The Minority Leader called for the immediate and unconditional release of Abronye DC and announced that the NPP legal team would challenge the prosecution in court.
He also urged civil society organisations, the legal fraternity and the media to speak out against what he described as growing political intimidation and abuse of state power.
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