The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has raised serious alarms over what it describes as a creeping pattern of state-backed arrests and detenti
The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has raised serious alarms over what it describes as a creeping pattern of state-backed arrests and detentions of journalists, bloggers, and activists in Ghana.
The foundation says these arrests, increasingly justified under the pretext of combating “false news,” represent a troubling regression in the country’s democratic gains and echo the repressive logic of the repealed Criminal Libel Law.
The latest in this series of arrests is Wendell Nana Yaw Yeboah, a Democracy Hub activist, who was apprehended on November 26, 2025, by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) following a petition from a political group, the “Ashanti Democrats,” on behalf of three regional ministers.
Nana Yaw Yeboah had previously accused the ministers of involvement in illegal mining activities (galamsey) but retracted his claims and issued an apology on November 18, acknowledging the allegations were unsubstantiated.
Nana Yaw Yeboah’s arrest is only the most recent in a string of actions targeting media practitioners and political commentators.
Earlier, on November 20, 2025, blogger Samuel Amadotor was detained after a complaint from Okatakyie Boakye Danquah Ababio II, former Board Chairman of the National Communications Authority, accusing him of publishing “false news.”
In September, Kwame Baffoe, the Bono Regional Chairman of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), faced arrest after criticizing the Inspector General of Police, charged with “offensive conduct conducive to breach of the peace” and “publication of false news.”
The pattern extends beyond political commentary. On August 12, 2025, Akyemkwaa Nana Kofi Asare, a Wontumi TV presenter, was forcibly taken by unidentified armed men after he linked President John Mahama to a fatal military helicopter crash.
He was later found at the Police Headquarters in Accra. On the same day, social media personalities Prince Ofori and Yayra Abiwu, known as Fante Comedy and Akosua Jollof, were arrested following a live TikTok session in which they made controversial remarks about the helicopter crash.
Earlier in May, Alfred Ababio Kumi, a former parliamentary aspirant, was arrested for social media posts alleging judicial misconduct involving the then Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo.
Legal analysts note that most of these arrests are executed under Section 208 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29), and Section 76 of the Electronic Communications Act, 2008 (Act 775).
These so-called “twin laws” are widely regarded as vestiges of colonial-era legislation designed to suppress dissent. Section 208 criminalises speech causing “fear and panic,” while Section 76 targets false or misleading electronic communications.
Critics argue that both laws have been used selectively to protect powerful public officials, undermining the country’s democratic fabric.
The MFWA also warns that the recently introduced Misinformation, Disinformation, Hate Speech and Publication of Other Information (MDHI) Bill, 2025, despite its stated goal of repealing these twin laws, contains provisions that could replicate the same oppressive measures, effectively stifling politically inconvenient speech.
“Criminalising speech in this manner is a betrayal of Ghana’s democratic achievements,” the MFWA stated.
“The 2001 repeal of the Criminal Libel Law was meant to foster freedom of expression. Yet, the government’s reliance on police and national security operatives to detain critics represents a direct reversal of that legacy.”
The MFWA insists that civil remedies, including defamation suits, arbitration by the National Media Commission, and formal rejoinders, are sufficient mechanisms for addressing reputational disputes.
The use of criminal prosecution, it warns, chills free speech, discourages whistleblowers, and undermines Ghana’s international human rights obligations, including those under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
In response, the MFWA is calling for the immediate dropping of criminal charges against all detained activists and journalists, urging judicial restraint, and demanding a comprehensive legislative review of Section 208, Section 76, and problematic clauses within the MDHI Bill.
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