NPP Condemns Arrest of Abronye, Accuses Mahama Government of Political Harassment

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has strongly condemned the arrest and detention of its Bono Regional Chairman, Kwame Baffoe, popularly known as “Abronye,” describing it as part of a growing culture of political harassment under the current administration.

Abronye was arrested by the police after allegedly insulting the Inspector General of Police (IGP), COP Christian Tetteh Yohunu. The NPP, in a statement signed by its General Secretary, Justin Kodua Frimpong, said the move represents a worrying pattern of intimidation and suppression of dissenting voices by the John Mahama-led government.

The party lamented that eight months into President Mahama’s administration, state security agencies have been “weaponised not to fight galamsey or protect citizens from rising insecurity, but to target opposition voices.” It cited recent communal clashes in Bawku, Nkwanta, and Gbeniyiri in the Savanna Region, which have claimed over 32 lives and displaced more than 50,000 Ghanaians, some of whom have sought refuge in neighboring countries.

“The NDC government is rather focused on persecuting NPP activists on social media while turning a blind eye to similar or worse statements made by its own members,” the statement said. “The selectivity in the so-called application of the law is too manifest to go unnoticed.”

The NPP further accused the government of reviving the “culture of silence” that was abolished in 2001 with the repeal of the Criminal and Seditious Libel Law by the Kufuor administration. It stressed that under Ghana’s current legal framework, any person who feels defamed – including the IGP – has the right to pursue a civil libel case instead of resorting to 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 statement added.

The NPP also raised concerns about what it described as the “unlawful removal” of the Chief Justice, warning that the judiciary was becoming the latest institution to be weaponised against perceived opponents.

“This growing climate of state-sponsored intimidation and harassment, as well as the criminalisation of speech, represents a debilitating assault on Ghana’s democracy and our commitment to the rule of law,” the party said.

According to the NPP, these developments have contributed to Ghana’s decline on the World Press Freedom Index, tarnishing the country’s reputation as a model of democracy in Africa.

The statement concluded with a call on “all peace-loving Ghanaians and defenders of democracy” to resist what the party described as “growing tyranny,” pledging that the NPP will soon roll out a series of actions to safeguard the nation’s democratic gains.