The Minority Leader in Parliament, Hon. Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin, has launched a blistering attack on the Mahama administration over the arrest, prosecution and continued detention of Mr. Kwame Baffoe, popularly known as Abronye DC, describing the actions of the state as a “profound constitutional wrong” and “state-sponsored political persecution.”
Addressing a press conference at the New Patriotic Party headquarters on Sunday 17th May 2026, the Effutu lawmaker did not mince words as he catalogued what he termed a deliberate and systematic assault on free speech by the government of President John Dramani Mahama.
“The arrest, prosecution and remand of a citizen for words spoken in the public square is not justice,” Afenyo-Markin declared. “It is persecution.”
The Charges
Mr. Abronye DC, who serves as Bono Regional Chairman of the NPP, was arraigned before Circuit Court 9 in Accra on 13th May 2026 on two counts: offensive conduct conducive to breach of the peace under Section 207(1) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29), and publication of false news under Section 208(1) of the same statute.
The charges arise from a social media video in which Mr. Abronye criticised a Circuit Court Judge, questioning the judge’s impartiality and conduct in the discharge of judicial functions.
But the Minority Leader, who is also a practising lawyer of considerable experience, dismissed the legal foundation of the prosecution as resting on nothing more than sand.
“Since when did criticising a judge become a criminal offence in Ghana?” he asked. “Section 207(1) requires conduct likely to occasion a breach of the peace. Political criticism of a public official, however sharp, does not meet that threshold. It is protected expression under Article 21(1)(a) of the 1992 Constitution.”
On the false news charge, Afenyo-Markin was equally emphatic: “Section 208(1) demands proof that Mr. Abronye knew his statement to be false. A man expressing a political opinion about judicial conduct is not publishing false news. Not by any honest reading of that provision.”
Bail Denied: ‘A Judge Who Forgot His Oath’
Perhaps the most searing criticism was reserved for the judge who presided over the bail application. Counsel for Mr. Abronye presented what the Minority Leader described as “solid grounds” for bail: the charges are misdemeanours, the accused has a fixed place of abode, is a prominent public figure with reliable sureties, and has health and family considerations.
The prosecution opposed bail on one ground only: that Mr. Abronye, if released, was likely to commit similar offences. The court agreed.
“A citizen imprisoned not for what he did, but for what he might say,” Afenyo-Markin said, his voice heavy with incredulity. “That is not law. That is censorship from the bench.”
Speaking as a lawyer who has spent his professional life in courtrooms, the Minority Leader offered a pointed rebuke to the judiciary, while maintaining a tone of respect.
“When a court denies bail not to serve justice, but to serve silence, it has administered political censorship from the bench,” he said. “And that, with the greatest of respect, is a betrayal of every principle that gives judicial office its authority, its dignity and its legitimacy.”
The BNI Remand and Missing Court Order
The Minority Leader then turned to what he described as the “gravest point” of the entire affair: the decision to remand Mr. Abronye into the custody of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), Ghana’s state intelligence and security service.
“The BNI is not a remand prison,” Afenyo-Markin stated. “It exists to address genuine threats to national security. Mr. Abronye DC posted a critical video about a judge. That is not a national security matter. It never was.”
But the revelation that followed sent shockwaves through the press corps. According to the Minority Leader, no signed and certified remand order has been produced by the court registry in the four days since the court pronounced the remand order.
“On what legal basis did the Ghana Police Service take Mr. Abronye into custody and convey him to the BNI?” he demanded. “On what legal basis did the BNI accept him and hold him?”
He explained that a remand order is a formal judicial instrument, the written legal authority upon which the deprivation of a citizen’s liberty must rest.
“Was a Ghanaian citizen delivered into intelligence custody on nothing more than a word of mouth?” he asked. “If so, that detention has no documented lawful foundation whatsoever.”
The Minority Leader placed the Ghana Police Service, the BNI and Circuit Court 9 on “clear and unambiguous notice” that the production of a signed and certified remand order is “not a technicality” but “a constitutional imperative.”
“Its absence, if confirmed, would render this detention not merely improper, but unlawful,” he warned.
Historical Context: Criminal Libel Repealed and Revived
Drawing on Ghana’s legal history, Afenyo-Markin reminded his audience that on 27th July 2001, Parliament unanimously passed the Criminal Code (Repeal of Criminal Libel and Seditious Laws) (Amendment) Act, 2001, Act 602, which President John Agyekum Kufuor assented to on 2nd August 2001.
That repeal, presented to Parliament by the then Attorney General, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, was hailed as a defining moment in Ghana’s democratic maturation.
But the Minority Leader accused the Mahama administration of quietly rebuilding what the Kufuor government tore down.
“Now the Mahama administration, unable to openly reverse that landmark reform without international condemnation, has chosen a more cunning path,” he said. “Rather than restore criminal libel by name, it is reconstructing the criminal libel regime in practice. Hiding behind Sections 207 and 208 of Act 29 to achieve through the back door what it cannot defend through the front.”
He listed a litany of arrests of NPP members since the Mahama
administration assumed office on 7th January 2025, including Mr. David Essandoh, the NPP Agona West Constituency Organiser, arrested by approximately ten armed CID and BNI officials for posting an image of President Mahama with the caption “Dumsor is back”; Mr. Abubakar Yakubu (Baba Amando), remanded on charges of offensive conduct and false publication; and Mr. Alfred Ababio Kumi (Adenta Kumi), arrested in a dawn raid that caused his wife to suffer a miscarriage.
Even a sitting Member of Parliament, Rev. John Ntim Fordjour of Assin South, was not spared, with NIB operatives attempting a raid on his residence after he raised concerns about two aircraft visiting Ghana.
A Word to the Judiciary
Addressing the judiciary directly, the Minority Leader acknowledged the climate of fear that may exist following the government’s successful removal of the Chief Justice.
“I am aware that some members of our judiciary may be afraid,” he said. “They look at what was done to the Chief Justice and ask themselves whether standing up for the Constitution is worth the personal cost.”
But he did not excuse what he saw as judicial timidity. “A judge who surrenders to fear and becomes a timorous soul, too intimidated to defend the Constitution and the rights it protects, is no longer a judge. He has become an instrument of the powerful.”
He called upon the High Court to take urgent cognisance of Mr. Abronye’s detention, including the reported absence of a signed and certified remand order, and to invoke the writ of habeas corpus.
Five Demands
The Minority Leader concluded with five non-negotiable demands:
First, that Mr. Kwame Baffoe (Abronye DC) be released from BNI custody immediately.
Second, that the NPP’s legal team mount a full constitutional challenge to the application of Sections 207 and 208 of Act 29 against political speech where civil remedies are available.
Third, that Parliament’s Constitutional, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee summon the Inspector General of Police and the Director-General of the BNI to publicly account for their decisions.
Fourth, that Ghana’s civil society, independent media and legal profession add their voices in defence of free speech.
Fifth, that the High Court take urgent cognisance of Mr. Abronye’s detention and the reported absence of a signed remand order.
The Closing Declaration
“The culture of silence is not coming back to Ghana,” Afenyo-Markin declared, his voice rising in defiance. “Not now. Not on our watch. Not ever.”
He ended with a direct call: “FREE ABRONYE DC. IMMEDIATELY AND UNCONDITIONALLY.”
As of press time, the Ministry of Justice and the Ghana Police Service had not issued an official response to the Minority Leader’s allegations. The BNI also declined to comment on the specifics of the case, citing the sub judice rule.
— By Kingsley Asiedu
