Minority Leader of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwame Baffoe, popularly known as Abronye DC, has strongly criticised the continued detention of the Bono Regional Chairman of the NPP. He described the process as a violation of constitutional principles and an assault on freedom of expression. Mr Afenyo-Markin, during a press conference on Sunday, May 17, 2026, stated that aspects of Ghana’s bail laws notably provisions under Act 30 and Act 96 are inconsistent with constitutional guarantees of personal liberty and judicial discretion. “The general tenor of Act 96, which deals with the grant of bail, gives a very clear indication that the court has discretion to grant bail to persons appearing before it in criminal cases upon conditions stated therein. The abstention on granting of bail in section 97 is therefore odd, and an unnecessary interference with the court,” he added.
The Minority Leader stressed that the NPP does not condone reckless public statements but that criminal prosecution should not be used to punish speech made in the public domain. Ghana’s legal system already provides adequate civil remedies for any reputational damage through defamation suits, he noted. “What has been done to Abronye DC is a profound constitutional wrong and must be condemned without equivocation, without delay.
The arrest itself, the prosecution and remand of a citizen for words spoken in the public domain is not justice, it is persecution,” Mr Afenyo-Markin declared. Abronye DC was remanded into custody for two weeks on Wednesday, May 13, amid investigations into allegations of misinformation and offensive public comments. He was first arrested on April 13 on charges of false publication and statements allegedly capable of causing fear and panic. He was granted bail but was later rearrested as investigations intensified. The NPP has consistently questioned the legality and fairness of the process leading to his detention.
Editor:
Obiri-Yeboah
