Ghanaians Call For Accountability Over Inflammatory Political Comments

Some Ghanaians are calling for politicians and party supporters to be held accountable for inflammatory and threatening public comments amid heightened political tension following the arrest and earlier denial of bail to the New Patriotic Party's Bono Regional Chairman, Kwame Baffoe, popularly known as Abronye DC.

The NPP communicator had previously been remanded into BNI custody by Circuit Court 9 in Accra over allegations of spreading false news.

The minority in Parliament has since accused the government of suppressing free speech and has petitioned the dean of the diplomatic corps over what it describes as growing attacks on dissenting voices.

The development has revived public debate over the balance between freedom of expression, national security and political responsibility.

Some Ghanaians who spoke to 3Music TV disagreed with those claims, arguing that supporters of political parties are increasingly abusing freedom of speech through insults, threats and provocative political commentary.

According to them, the growing use of hostile language in expressing one's views on issues cannot be pardoned under the guise of freedom of expression.

They believe politicians and party communicators must be prepared to face legal consequences for statements that are derogatory, inflammatory or capable of inciting tension and threatening public peace.

Others also dismissed suggestions that Ghana is returning to the culture of silence, insisting that efforts to curb irresponsible comments should not be mistaken for attempts to suppress free expression.

They argued that enforcing responsibility in public speech is necessary to protect democratic stability, rather than to silence political opposition or dissenting views.

Their comments come a day after the National Peace Council issued a statement calling for calm, restraint and responsible political discourse among political actors and their supporters.

The Council urged all sides in the political space to avoid rhetoric that could heighten tensions and to prioritise national peace in their public engagements.

Meanwhile, Abronye DC has been granted bail by the Accra High Court in the sum of GH¢100,000 with two sureties.

Abronye appeared before the court on a motion for bail pending trial, moved by his counsel, former Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, who was led by former Attorney-General Godfred Yeboah Dame.

As part of the bail conditions, the court ordered the NPP communicator to report to the Police CID once every fortnight, surrender all travel documents, and refrain from travelling outside the jurisdiction without the express permission of the registrar.