Development Discourse with Amos Safo: Ghana is descending to the culture of silence

Many people have expressed concern that gradually President John Mahama’s government is deviating from democratic rule and is pushing Ghana to a military dictatorship, where people’s freedoms are often sacrificed on the altar of consolidating power.

In other words, Ghana risks descending into the culture of silence unless current political office holders demonstrate their commitment and tolerance to democratic principles and Constitutional rule.

Spate of arrests

This fear demonstrated by the spate of arrests of several people, mostly opposition supporters who express their views on social media. This development is causing fear and panic as the culture of silence appears to be growing stronger each day. These days people go to bed wondering who will be the next to be arrested by the police and remanded by the courts.

Obviously, this is not the Ghana the world knows as a peaceful country and beacon of hope for many progressive people. Since 1992 when Ghana returned to constitutional rule, she has been celebrated as a beacon of democracy, a country where free speech and freedom of the media is enshrined in the Constitution.

But today, all the democratic accolades of Ghana are rapidly being dissipated by the rampant arrests and detention of anyone expressing divergent views that are deemed to be unpleasant to public office holders. Free speech is being criminnalised by the police, while the judiciary is playing an unconventional role of silencing anyone who dares to criticize the government.

The powerful combination of executive and judicial power is gradually becoming a threat to basic freedoms that the 1992 Constitution was promulgated to protect. The critical question is, if people can no longer criticize public office holders, if people can no longer hold duty bearers accountable for their actions, who will do that? Certainly, I do not expect the more than two-thirds majority of MPs of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) government to hold their government accountable.

LGBTQI critic arrested

On April 13, 2026, Abubakari Yakubu, alias (Baba Amando), a New Patriotic Party (NPP) communicator in Bono Region became another victim of police arrest. He was arrested for allegedly using AI technology to produce pictures of President John Mahama, Felix Ofuso Kwakye (Minister of Government Communication) and Sam George (Minister of Communication) dressed in feminine attires designed in LGBTQI colours. The digital images were deemed to have mocked the three top government officials at the centre of the LGBTQI debate.

This was Baba Amandos style of commenting on the trending LGBTQI debate in which the current government is being heavily criticized for reneging on its 2024 election promise to sign the anti LGBTQI law.  Once in power the three officials suddenly backtracked in their promise to outlaw LGBTQI. In fact, President Mahama categorically stated that did not consider LGBTQI as a priority because there many pressing issues to be addressed.

After publishing the IA and photoshopped pictures on social media Baba Amando was swiftly arrested by the police and remanded in prison custody by a court for two weeks to reappear for trial.  It was not clear who instructed the arrest of the social media activist and what he was charged for; but using cartoons and caricatures to communicate is not a new phenomenon. There are historical antecedents to the use of parodies, satires and cartoons to mock political office holders or to draw attention to critical national issues.

Creativity

I saw the pictures on social media and far from being offensive, it simply demonstrates someone’s creativity in using digital images to communicate. Baba Amando neither threatened anyone, nor did he cause fear and panic. The pictures did not incite violence; he did not publish any false information that had the tendency to destabilize any state institution.

As I stated earlier, he simply used satires and parody as a form of political communication. In many democracies citizens use these strategies to communicate on trending political issues. In fact, under President Kufuor and President Akufo-Addo, NDC communicators used various unethical strategies to share their views, but were never arrested, let alone being detained.

Between 2020 and 2024 fake news, misinformation and disinformation allegedly manufactured by NDC communicators dominated the political discourse. In response, the previous government published “fake news stamps” to counter the fake news.

What is more disturbing is that when Baba Amando was arrested the presiding judge found it prudent to remand him for two weeks, although the prosecutors did not object to a bail. Even though Baba Amando was granted bail after a few days, the original sentence of two weeks for circulating pictures that hurt the feelings of people in power is worrying.

This means that any time anyone feels hurt by any information on social media, the publisher can be arrested and remanded. For emphasis, making cartoons or images of a president or his minister is not a crime. This form of communication has been used for centuries and is one of the protected forms of political communications and self-expression.

Moreover, the use of judicial discretion which tends to undermine the freedom of individuals is an emerging threat to the rule of law and the constitutional provision of freedom of expression. Freedom to criticize or to mock those who offered themselves to be voted for is a key ingredient of any functioning democracy.

It is an acceptable mechanism through which citizens hold elected governments and appointees to account. Did the mocking pictures represent a threat to the state or any powerful individual? Perhaps, people who are intolerable to such basic forms of communication and criticism should never be entrusted with power. Under our current democratic dispensation, the arrest and detention of Baba Amando for simply expressing his views is legally and morally indefensible.

Harassment of people

The harassment of people for merely expressing their views on national issues signifies how quickly we need to review our penal and judicial systems to protect our individual or collective liberties. It appears Ghana is rapidly becoming a police state, where political opponents are being arrested and detained in police custody or through the power of the judiciary.

Using the coercive powers of the state to ostensibly silence opposition or to settle personal scores is a dangerous development, perhaps, designed to impose a culture of silence on critical voices. Political dissent should never be criminalized because under a viable democracy the opposition has a role to contest and question government policy.

President Mahama returned to power on a highly advertised commitment to the rule of law, democratic values and a promise to protect the rights of citizens, including the right of Baba Amando to express his views.

When President Mahama swore the presidential oath on January 7, 2025, he affirmed the constitutional mandate to be fair to Ghanaians, including those who criticize his government’s policies. Unfortunately, he appears to have stabbed democracy in the back given the incessant and indiscriminate arrests and detention of critics of his government. No amount of legal, political or prosecutorial rights can justify the rampant arrests and detention of people outside the confines of our constitution.

Military coups

Ghana has come a long way from the 1966 coup to 1972, 1978, 1979 and 1981 coups, during which the military violated the rights of Ghanaians who refused to toe their lines. Human rights violations included confiscation and burning of properties, stifling freedom of expression and of the media.

Other critics such as the three judges who wanted to uphold the rule of law and constitutional rule were abducted and burnt alive. Moreover, opponents of the various military regimes were forced into exile to save their lives. In fact, the culture of silence became the norm in Ghana during those dark days. These and other rights violation and the wind of change compelled the PNDC government to grudgingly return Ghana to democratic rule in 1992.

Suddenly, under the current dispensation political office holders have become so intolerant of divergent views or criticisms. As stated earlier, NDC communicators used worse forms of communications against members of the previous government, including President Akufo-Addo without any surreptitious and illegal arrests. There are laid down democratic processes of handling civil issues.

Ideally, President Mahama, Sam Goerge and Felix Ofosu Kwarkye should have sued Baba Amando for defamation. The use of brute force is untenable under this constitutional dispensation. Ghana is no longer under a military rule, so no one should be allowed to lead us to the era of painful military dictatorships.

In my opinion the case against Baba Amando must be dropped. What he published does not amount to marshalling police and judicial powers against him. President Mahama must recommit to upholding the tenets of democracy and the rule of law, the very principles he promised to uphold during the 2024 campaign. He also swore on January 7, 2025, to respect the constitutional order of Ghana.

Policing free speech

In September 2025 President Mahama publicly declared that his government had acquired sophisticated equipment to trace and arrest social media activists who post fake news or unverified information. After the announcement Ghana police swung into action by arresting several opposition communicators. An NPP communicator popularly called “Abronye” has been arrested several times for inexplicable reasons, other than to silence him or to show him where power lies.

Even an opposition Member of Parliament, Mr. Kofi Ofosu Nkansah was arrested on the grounds of publishing fake news. In a radio programme, Mr. Nkansah alleged that some people had paid bribes to secure government funded scholarships to study abroad. He was subsequently arrested and detained for more than twenty-four hours without appearing in court. The complaint was Dr. Callistus Mahama, the Secretary to President John Dramani Mahama.

In a statement to justify his action Dr. Mahama argued that the allegation had generated significant public interest after it was widely shared on social media. Was the arrest and detention of Mr. Nkansah the best solution? Couldn’t he have been cautioned and asked to withdraw his statement or at best referred to the National Media Commission?

The inherent danger confronting all Ghanaians is when legal decisions are allowed to shape or limit political discourse. Political power aside, every government needs critical voices of the masses to help stay on track and to correct its mistakes.

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