NPP National Youth Wing Condemns Arrest of Social Media Activists

The National Youth Wing of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has strongly criticized the Ghana Police Service over the arrest and detention of three social media personalities — TikTokers Fante Comedy and AY, along with political activist Sir-Obama Pokuase.

In a statement signed by National Youth Organizer Salam Mustapha, the group expressed “shock” that the police would “waste resources” to apprehend young citizens whose viral video comments, though deemed inappropriate by some, posed no real threat.

“These Social Media Activists, like all of us, acknowledge the grief that has gripped the nation,” the statement read. “They have no actionable ability to cause harm nor intend to do so, except for their comments, which, however unsavoury, are opinions they are entitled to.”

The Youth Wing accused the police of applying a partisan approach in their law enforcement, alleging that similar or worse comments made by activists aligned with the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the past had been ignored.

“Why the intolerance today? Why is the malicious treatment of all persons who identify with the NPP the new ish for the security setup?” the statement questioned, adding that the police should not “be a wimp for the executive” and must live up to their motto of Service with Integrity.

Citing an incident on July 11, in which former Minister of State and MP for Awutu Senya East, Hawa Koomson, Deputy National Organiser Chris Lloyd, and other NPP members were allegedly attacked during the Ablekuma North constituency rerun, the group accused the police of failing to act because the alleged perpetrators were NDC members.

The statement concluded with a demand for the “unconditional and immediate release” of the three arrested individuals, describing the detentions as “shamelessly biased and absolutely partisan.”