Legal practitioner, Martin Kpebu, has slammed the Mahama administration for detaining more citizens over comments deemed offensive than was recorded under the previous government.
According to him, within just 18 months of President John Dramani Mahama in office, the number of people arrested for free speech issues has already gone past the total under former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s eight years.
He described it as a troubling trend and urged the government to reconsider its approach to dealing with insults aimed at public officials.
Speaking on TV3’s Key Points on Saturday, August 8, Mr Kpebu said arrests should not be the default response to offensive remarks.
“For one-and-a-half years, this current government has arrested more people on matters of free speech than Akufo-Addo’s eight years. It is a bad record for John Mahama; they should be careful. Mahama should pay attention.
“These things start small, before he realises all the goodwill is gone. Let the people talk. During Akufo-Addo’s tenure, Mahama called him and others ‘Akyem sakawa mafia’, who arrested him? he asked.
While acknowledging that insulting leaders was not right, he said the state cannot jail everyone who crosses the line. He proposed other options such as fines or public censure.
Mr Kpebu recalled how past leaders were criticised harshly without state action. “We said Akufo-Addo was stone-deaf; ‘mampam’ did he arrest me?
Nana Yaa Jantuah called Akufo-Addo Nebuchadnezzar; she popularised it, Allow Ghanaians to talk,” he said. “Late President Jerry John Rawlings called former President J.A. Kufuor while in office a thief. He didn’t arrest J.J. You can’t shut people down by arrests. I think the government should sit up. As for the insult, there is nothing you can do; it’s part of accountability,” he stressed.
He said the crackdown comes at a time when the NPP staged its “Democracy Under Attack” protest on Thursday, August 6. The party said the demonstration was to defend the rule of law, constitutional rule and democratic accountability.
The NPP has accused the Mahama administration of political targeting, selective prosecution and misuse of state agencies — claims the government has denied.
