Release Techiman Nurse Salomey Baffoe - Bawumia Slams NDC Govt Over Crackdown On Free Speech

Former Vice President and NPP Flagbearer, Dr. Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia, has condemned the arrest and remand of a Techiman-based nurse and mother of three, Salomey Baffoe Awiti, over alleged false publication.

In a statement, Dr. Bawumia described the incident as worrying, revealing that the nurse, who has a 4-year-old child among her three children, was picked up in the middle of the night by National Intelligence officers and has been remanded for two weeks on suspicion of abetting the publication of false news.

"This is not the Ghana we want to build," he said.

Dr. Bawumia assured Ghanaians that under his leadership, intelligence agencies will not be reduced to chasing citizens for insulting the President or anyone else.

He noted that he has always disavowed politics of insults and will continue to remind all in the political space of the need to be decorous.

"The ideas we need to transform our nation won't come from insults. But I also remind the NDC government that any infringement on the right to free speech pushes our democracy backwards. Free speech, as unpalatable as it may be sometimes, is the foundation of our democracy," he stated.

The former Vice President also accused government of selective application of the law.

"Even more worrying, is the government's continuous selective applications of our laws. Some citizens can insult and walk freely and others are jailed because the government doesn't like the target of their insults," he said.

He therefore called for the immediate release of Salomey Baffoe Awiti and others similarly charged and jailed.

"Please release Salomey Bafoh Awiti and others who have been similarly charged and jailed. God bless our homeland Ghana and help us to resist oppressors rule!" he added.

The arrest has already sparked outrage from groups like Democracy Hub, which has accused the NDC government of moving "From Opposition Critics To Oppressors" and weaponizing state power to silence dissent.