NPP condemns Mahama administration over arrest of citizen activists
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has accused government of President John Dramani Mahama of clamping down on free speech and undermining Ghana’s democratic values through the mass arrest and detention of citizen activists.
Addressing a press conference at Asylum Down, Accra on Wednesday, August 27, 2025, the party’s Director of Communications, Richard Ahiagbah, described the trend as an assault on the constitutional rights of Ghanaians and a dangerous return to what he termed “the culture of silence.”
According to Mr. Ahiagbah, “the future of our democracy—how Ghanaians participate in holding governments accountable—is threatened by the Mahama Administration’s mass arrest of citizen activists on Facebook, TikTok, X, and on the radio. President John Dramani Mahama has declared war on the media, both new and old.”
He alleged that at least eight citizens, including Priscilla Duah, Charity Tetteh, and Emmanuel Kwakye Asare, have been arrested or detained in recent weeks for expressing their frustrations with the government online. “Soon, you and I will have to apply to the Jubilee House to have our posts vetted before we can publish them,” he warned.
The NPP Communications Director argued that the arrests directly contravene Article 21(1)(a) of the 1992 Constitution, which guarantees every Ghanaian the right to freedom of speech and expression. “The ability to express dissent is not just a privilege but a fundamental human right. What we are seeing are frivolous arrests and a violation of the Constitution,” he said, adding that the tactics of harsh bail conditions and Rambo-style arrests have created “a chilling atmosphere of fear.”
Mr. Ahiagbah also accused the Mahama administration of practicing selective justice, protecting supporters of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) while targeting its opponents. He pointed to the case of US-based Ghanaian broadcaster Kevin Taylor, who he said was “cleared of all liabilities and heavily protected by national security” despite a long record of vulgar commentary.
“Can anyone convince you that what Priscilla Duah and Charity Tetteh said in their TikTok video is comparable to or worse than the coarse discourse of Kevin Taylor? Nobody can beat Saint Taylor in vulgarism. Yet Kevin Taylor is a free man, while Priscilla, Charity, and others wallow in police cells. The difference is that Kevin Taylor is an NDC Ghanaian,” he stated.
The NPP Director of Communications maintained that the crackdown is less about law enforcement and more about instilling fear among citizens. “This is not what we are used to in Ghana, at least in the past eight years. If the environment President Mahama is seeking to create had prevailed during his campaign, we might not have a President Mahama in office today,” Ahiagbah stressed.
He called on the media, civil society, and the diplomatic community to take a stand. He said: “We call on President John Dramani Mahama to uphold the Constitution. The international community in Ghana has a duty to contribute to the defense and protection of free speech. Ghana cannot be the exception.”
He further cautioned that Ghana risks sliding into authoritarianism if the current trend is not resisted. “We shall not be silenced through harassment, arrest, detention, or imprisonment. We shall resist this grand attempt to relaunch the culture of silence at all costs,” he declared.
He reaffirmed the NPP’s pledge to work with the media, civil society organizations, and Ghanaians across sectors to safeguard democracy. “Together, we can build a Ghana that is more tolerant, freer, and more liberated—where every citizen feels empowered to share their opinions without fear of arbitrary arrest,” Mr. Ahiagbah added.
