Henry Nana Boakye
The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has cautioned the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) to desist from using state agencies, particularly the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), to harass political opponents.
Speaking at a press conference at the party’s headquarters in Accra yesterday, National Organiser of the NPP, Henry Nana Boakye, described the recent arrest and remand of the party’s Sunyani East Communications Officer, Baba Amando, as a “state-sponsored political abduction” disguised as law enforcement.
The party also called for an immediate review of what it described as the abuse of remand orders by the ruling government, alleging that such actions are biased against the NPP.
According to the NPP, the circumstances surrounding Baba Amando’s detention point to a “perversion of justice.”
He noted that despite the communications officer honouring police invitations, and with the prosecutor making no application for a remand, the court still ordered him into custody for two weeks.
“When the state, clothed with prosecutorial authority, does not seek to curtail liberty, what extra-judicial interest does the court have to do so on its own motion? This is judicial overreach. This is the bench executing political instructions,” he stated.
The party also described the behaviour of the ruling government as a double standard in the application of the law, citing what it called reckless and divisive statements previously made by President Mahama and other NDC officials who faced no legal consequences.
He said, “Ghana now has two laws: one for the government and members of the NDC, and one for critics.”
He further argued that while NDC members walk free for making similar comments, the NPP’s communications officer has instead been detained for two weeks.
“I am surprised that His Excellency the President, who says he has championed the protection of our rights and civil liberties, is the same president presiding over such unwarranted harassment of political opponents and people with dissenting views. President Mahama has allowed state institutions to become weapons of intimidation. This is not democracy,” he noted.
The NPP further condemned the recent raid on the residence of Maxwell Kofi Jumah by the Economic and Organised Crime Office, describing the agency as a “conveyor belt for political hatchet jobs,” and claiming it now answers to “political masters” rather than executing its mandate of investigating economic crimes.
He said the actions of law enforcement agencies are diversionary tactics meant to distract from national issues such as the “failed 24-hour economy” and the power outages affecting many Ghanaians across the country.
The party therefore urged the government to refocus its energy on governing rather than pursuing what it described as personal vendettas.
“Ghanaians did not vote for vendettas. They voted for jobs, lights, water, and beds in hospitals,” Nana Boakye asserted.
“To the judge, your robe is not a party card. To the government, Ghana is not a dictatorship. Free Baba Amando now,” the NPP Organiser said.
The NPP also vowed not to be silenced by what it described as diversionary tactics, citing several incidents of alleged harassment of journalists and party communicators, including Paul Adom-Otchere and Okatakyie Afrifa.
“Look, you are in government to govern. If they do not want peace to govern, we will not give them peace to govern. We are not going to be intimidated. We are still going to expose this government for its lies and inconsistencies,” the National Organiser added.
Baba Amando’s treatment by law enforcement agencies, the party said, is not an isolated incident but part of a pattern.
Kwame Baffoe aka Abronye DC, the NPP’s Bono Regional Chairman, was also arrested, harassed, and dragged before court over political speech, the party stated.
On Monday, he was arrested again on what the party described as similar flimsy charges.
According to the police, Abronye had purportedly described an Adenta Circuit Court judge as a political judge.
By Ebenezer K. Amponsah