Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has accused the administration of John Dramani Mahama of quietly resurrecting criminal libel laws abolished more than two decades ago under former President John Agyekum Kufuor.
Speaking during a media briefing on the detention of Kwame Baffoe, Afenyo-Markin argued that although criminal libel laws were repealed in 2001, the current government was allegedly using provisions on offensive conduct and false publication to achieve the same objective through “the back door.”
He claimed the prosecutions of Abronye DC and other opposition figures mirror tactics previously used during the PNDC and early NDC years to suppress dissent and intimidate journalists and political opponents.
Afenyo-Markin referenced the imprisonment and alleged torture of journalists including Abdul Malik Kweku Baako and Kwesi Pratt under past administrations, warning that Ghana must not return to what he called the “culture of silence.”
“President Kufuor abolished criminal libel to set Ghana free. President Mahama is rebuilding it, brick by brick, to cage the opposition,” he declared.
The Minority Leader maintained that when civil remedies exist for reputational disputes, resorting to criminal prosecution becomes a political choice rather than a legal necessity.
He urged civil society groups, the legal profession and the media to speak out before democratic freedoms are eroded further, warning that silence in the face of political intimidation could weaken Ghana’s constitutional democracy.