The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has condemned in the strongest terms the arrest and detention of its Bono Regional Chairman, Kwame Baffoe, alias ‘Abronye,’ by the police for allegedly insulting the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Christian Tetteh Yohunu.
In a statement issued on September 10, 2025, signed by General Secretary Justin Kodua Frimpong, the Party described the action as “the latest instalment of the growing pattern of politically motivated intimidation and harassment” of its members for being critical of the NDC government.
The NPP said it was disturbing that eight months into the administration of President John Dramani Mahama, the government appeared to have lost focus and was using state security not to fight galamsey or protect citizens against growing insecurity, but to persecute dissenting voices.
According to the statement, the Mahama-led government has weaponised state security to intimidate opposition members, particularly NPP activists on social media, while sparing members of the ruling NDC who make similar or worse comments.
“The nation, under John Mahama’s presidency, is essentially witnessing the resurrection of the dreaded culture of silence and criminalisation of speech,” the statement said, warning that the police were being used to erode democratic gains made since the repeal of the Criminal and Seditious Libel Law in 2001.
While stressing that the NPP does not condone vulgar or insulting language in public discourse, the Party said the appropriate remedy for defamation was through civil suits, not criminal prosecution.
“The law, they say, is the law, and we expect the IGP to know better. You don’t weaponise and abuse your office to settle personal scores with the very people you are supposed to protect,” the Party stressed.
The NPP also accused the government of extending its “weaponisation” to the judiciary, citing the removal of the Chief Justice on what it described as “flimsy grounds.”
The Party warned that the growing climate of state-sponsored intimidation and criminalisation of speech represented an assault on Ghana’s democracy, adding that it was not surprising the country continued to drop in the World Press Freedom Index.
The statement concluded with a call on all peace-loving Ghanaians and defenders of democracy to join the NPP in resisting what it termed “growing tyranny,” hinting at a rollout of actions to salvage the country.
Below is a copy of the statement
Source: Starrfm.com.gh
