Residents of Afram Plains in the Eastern Region are urgently calling on President John Mahama and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) leadership to intervene in the prolonged detention of 13 party sympathisers arrested on murder charges widely deemed politically motivated.
The group—comprising fishermen and farmers from Mepe, Sokpoe, Tefle, and Bakpa—has been held for nine months at Nima and Cantonment police cells in Accra without substantive evidence. Locals allege the arrests, targeting NDC loyalists in Afram Plains South and North, aim to suppress voter turnout ahead of the 2024 elections.
Identified as Gideon Amedofu (63), Tetteh Avlime Amedofu, Emmanuel Azalu, Thompson Father Amedofu, Moses Awi, Agbesi Amlade, Ernest Amlade, Robert Adator, Bright Waleku, Charles Kaleh, Agbeko Agbodza, Godwin Agbodza, and Alormenyo Sokah, the detainees were seized from villages including Togorme, Kwame Gyamera, and Forifori.
While five suspects—Emmanuel Azalu, Agbesi Amlade, Ernest Amlade, Moses Awi, and Robert Adator—were granted bail, they remain incarcerated, unable to meet the GH¢20,000 court condition for three months.
The case hinges on a pistol-related shooting after a football match in a village none of the suspects attended. Residents insist the charges, allegedly orchestrated by Ada Korpe Electoral Area Assemblyman Hon. Nicholas Taklo Tsornyake, are fabricated. Notably, the primary suspect, Fulani herdsman Bruneri Amadu, was arrested separately at Ekye Amanfro.
“This is pure persecution,” a community leader stated. “We urge Mahama and the NDC to fight for justice and expose this plot to intimidate our voters.”