Former Special Prosecutor Martin Alamisi Burns Kaiser Amidu has accused the government of unconstitutional censorship after Graphic Online removed his critical article about the Bawku Mediation Report within an hour of publication on December 19, 2025.
The former Attorney General claims state owned media was ordered to block his opinion piece questioning the constitutional basis for the government’s handling of the Bawku conflict.
Graphic Online published Amidu’s article in its opinion column around 14:00 hours under the headline “Martin Amidu Writes on Bawku Mediation Report and questions gov’t’s GHc1 billion…” Less than an hour later, the state owned publication removed access to the article from its website. Attempts to open the piece now produce an error message reading “Graphic Online 404 Article not found.”
The censorship violates Articles 162 and 163 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana, which prohibit state interference with media freedom, according to Amidu’s December 23, 2025 statement. He emphasized that while he would accept if the article was never published, removing it after publication constitutes dictatorship that no patriotic citizen should tolerate. Amidu stated Ghanaians did not vote on December 7, 2024 for a creeping dictatorship where government resorts to censoring critical articles by citizens demanding answers about the constitutional basis for perceived arbitrary executive actions.
The censored article challenged the legal foundation for the December 16, 2025 presentation ceremony at Jubilee House where Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II delivered his Bawku Mediation Report to President John Dramani Mahama. Amidu demanded the government provide Ghanaians with answers about the constitutional or statutory authority for the mediation process and subsequent government statement accepting the report’s findings and recommendations.
Amidu described the Jubilee House presentation as a gargantuan political scam in his earlier December 18, 2025 statement, arguing the process lacked constitutional or legal basis. He claims more people have died from the Bawku conflict between January 7, 2025 and December 16, 2025 than in the previous eight years under the former administration. The former Attorney General requested written terms of reference for the mediator, which neither the Asantehene nor President Mahama provided in the Mediator’s Report or the Government Official Statement.
Amidu’s latest statement also responds to remarks attributed to the Asantehene during an end of year address to Asanteman. The Asante King reportedly declared that the National House of Chiefs has no authority over him and threatened to instruct chiefs under his jurisdiction to stop attending its sittings if it attempts to assert such authority. The former Special Prosecutor expressed concern that the statement contradicts the mediator’s earlier position at the December 16 presentation that no King is above the law.
The Asantehene’s mediation concluded that Zugraan Naba Asigri Abugrago Azoka II, the Kusasi enskinned Bawku Naaba, is the legitimate ruler of the area according to the 1992 Constitution. The report recommended that the government enforce laws recognizing Naba Asigri Abugrago Azoka II as overlord of Bawku. The Asantehene urged Nayiri Naa Bohagu Abdulai Mahami Sheriga, who enskinned a rival chief for Bawku named Seidu Abagare, to respect the law.
The government accepted the mediation report and announced a One Billion Ghana Cedis Bawku Revitalization Fund over three years managed by a political committee. Amidu questioned why this fund requires a political management committee while a 1.5 billion Ghana Cedis Housing Investment delivery for the Ho Oxygen City Project announced the same day, December 17, 2025, does not have such oversight. The former Attorney General suggested the management structure raises suspicions about electoral politics influencing the Bawku fund’s administration.
Amidu served as Attorney General from 2011 to 2012 during President Mahama’s previous administration and as Minister for Interior from 2010 to 2011. He represented the Bawku Naba in a 2003 Supreme Court action when Akufo Addo Prempeh and Company challenged the constitutionality of the Chieftaincy Restoration of Status of Chiefs Law on behalf of Mamprusis. Amidu successfully argued lack of jurisdiction based on Transitional Provisions of the 1992 Constitution, and the court allowed discontinuance without liberty for plaintiffs to return on the same matter.
The former Special Prosecutor traced his personal connection to Bawku back to 1959 when his father, a Preventive Police officer, transferred there as part of efforts integrating the Northern Territories into post independence Ghana. Amidu served as Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) Deputy Secretary for the Upper East Region from February 1983 and later acted as Regional Secretary, giving him direct involvement in administrative processes addressing the Bawku chieftaincy dispute during that era.
President Mahama stated during a February 3, 2024 campaign visit to the Bawku Naba’s palace that there is no chieftaincy conflict in Bawku because there is only one known King, Asigri Abugrago Azoka II. Amidu questioned why the President now seeks mediation of a conflict he previously declared nonexistent. The contradiction raises concerns about consistency in government positions on the constitutional status of traditional authority in Bawku, according to the former Attorney General.
Former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo initially appointed the Asantehene to mediate the Bawku dispute during his administration. The Asante King began formal engagement with stakeholders in April 2025, meeting separately with representatives from both sides. Mediation work temporarily suspended but resumed in May, contributing to relative calm in the municipality before tensions escalated again.
The Bawku conflict primarily involves Kusasi and Mamprusi groups over claims to traditional authority with roots extending to colonial era administrative decisions. Heavy security deployment at Manhyia Palace during the December 1, 2025 final facilitation session suggested ongoing tensions between conflict parties. Reports indicate neither representatives of the Bawku Naba nor the Nayiri who attended that session knew the outcome of the mediation process beforehand.
Amidu acknowledged accidental date errors in his previous December 18, 2025 article, where he incorrectly stated events occurred on “Wednesday 16 November 2025 and 17 November 2025” instead of the correct dates of December 16, 2025 and December 17, 2025. He also mistakenly wrote “17 October 2025” instead of December 17, 2025 on one page. The former Attorney General took personal responsibility for these slips while emphasizing that the substance of his discourse remains more important than the form.
The former Special Prosecutor insisted he cannot be intimidated through subtle messages or disparaging references. He stated that Martin Amidu is his own shepherd and not anybody’s sheep under the 1992 Constitution. Amidu emphasized he will continue following his conscience in defending Ghana’s Constitution regardless of attempts to misrepresent his discourse or cow him into silence through references to his senior citizen status.
Amidu concluded by repeating his position that without the mediator and President providing the public with terms of reference showing the mediator’s authority, the December 16, 2025 circus performance at Jubilee House and the December 17, 2025 Government Statement appear as a gargantuan political scam to justify needless deaths. He maintained that Ghana deserves a government of laws and not of men, arguing that unconstitutional state censorship cannot suppress truth nor substitute for transparency and accountability of the elected to the electorate.
The 1992 Constitution’s Chapter 12 governs media freedom in Ghana. Article 162 establishes media freedom and independence, while Article 163 specifically prohibits censorship and protects editorial independence. State owned media institutions like Graphic Online, which operates under the Graphic Communications Group Limited, are bound by these constitutional provisions protecting press freedom and preventing government interference with editorial content.
