The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) condemns the increasing spate of what appears to be the weaponisation of Section 76 of the Electronic Communications Act, 2008 (Act 775), and Section 208 (sometimes paired with Section 207) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29) to criminalise speech in Ghana.
Within 16 months of the current National Democratic Congress (NDC) government, under President John Dramani Mahama, more people have been arrested using these laws than happened under the entire eight years of the previous NPP administration led by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
It is worth recalling that while in opposition, President Mahama wrote an open letter to President Akufo-Addo expressing concern about what he described as the “growing criminalisation of speech and journalism in Ghana.” In that letter written in 2022, President Mahama stated: “It is even more worrying when the power of the state is used as a pliant tool in this intimidating endeavour. This is a dangerous blueprint you are fashioning for our dear nation, and it must not be encouraged”
“Your actions as President have totally discredited your self-acquired accolade as a human rights lawyer and activist. Ghana has long emerged from the unfortunate past where journalists were cowed by incarceration and brutalisation,” the then opposition candidate John Mahama told President Akufo-Addo.
On page 139 of the NDC’s 2024 manifesto, the party pledged to repeal anti-press-freedom laws and reverse what the party described as a climate of fear, intimidation, harassment, and insecurity that affects media freedom and development. A few days after being sworn into office, President Mahama reaffirmed his commitment to uphold both press freedom and freedom of speech as guaranteed under the 1992 Constitution.
Yet, these commitments appear to stand in contradiction to developments over the past sixteen months of President Mahama’s leadership of the country. The period has been characterised by a disturbing rise in what appears to be the discriminatory and disproportionate application of Section 76 of the Electronic Communications Act, 2008 (Act 775) and Section 207 & 208 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29).
Since President John Mahama assumed office on January 7, 2025, these laws have been applied to arrest presenters, journalists, TikTokers, bloggers, political activists, and ordinary citizens for comments or publications they have made.
The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has recorded 14 arrests linked to the application of these laws within just 16 months, compared to eight arrests recorded over the entire eight-year tenure of the previous administration led by President Akufo-Addo.
In December 2025, the MFWA condemned what we described as a “creeping criminalisation of speech” in Ghana, documenting multiple cases of freedom of expression violations under the NDC government. The documented cases included the following:
-November 26, 2025: Arrest of Wendell Nana Yaw Yeboah, after he alleged three Regional Ministers (Ashanti, Eastern, and Western) were complicit in galamsey operations.
-November 20, 2025: Arrest and detention of Samuel Amadotor, a blogger accused of “publication of false news” about a former board chairman of the National Communications Authority,
-September 13, 2025: Arrest of TikToker David Kwodwo Prah Afful, also known as Kwame Nkrumah the Second. According to the police, Afful was taken into custody for allegedly making death threats and inciting violence during a TikTok live session. In the live session, he reportedly threatened to kill government officials, and civil servants, referencing the use of vehicles with official green number plates.
-September 08, 2025: Arrest of Kwame Baffoe (Abronye DC), Bono Regional Chairman of the opposition NPP, on charges of “offensive conduct conducive to breach of the peace” and “publication of false news.”
-August 12, 2025: Arrest of TikTok content creators Prince Ofori and Yayra Abiwu who are popularly known as Fante Comedy and Akosua Jollof respectively. Fante Comedy had hosted a live TikTok session during which participants, including Akosua Jollof, made mocking comments about the victims of the helicopter crash which killed senior government officials and wished that the CEO of Ghana Gold Board, Sammy Gyamfi, and President John Mahama had also been victims of the crash.
-August 12, 2025: Arrest of Akyemkwaa Nana Kofi Asare, a Wontumi TV presenter. He was reportedly picked up by unidentified armed men in Ejisu Krapa in the Ashanti Region following comments he made on air linking President John Mahama to a fatal military helicopter crash. He was later found at the Police Headquarters in Accra.
-August 12, 2025: The arrest of two TikTokers who made comments deemed offensive about President Mahama after the August 2025 helicopter crash in Ghana. The two, Priscilla Duah Birago, a National Service Person, and Charity Dede Tetteh, a beautician, said: “We would have been happier if the President, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, was involved in the helicopter crash and dwarfs had eaten him up and that a lot of people are dying under his tenure of office.
-May 23, 2025: Arrest of Alfred Ababio Kumi, a former parliamentary aspirant and opposition party activist following allegations he made on social media regarding purported judicial misconduct.
The pattern set in 2025 appears to have continued into 2026. Within the first five months of 2026 alone, the MFWA has documented additional cases of the discriminatory application of the two laws:
-May 20, 2026: The arrest of TikToker Mahama Aminat, also known as Akosua Serwaa Minat for allegedly threatening President John Dramani Mahama in a viral video on social media.
–April 13, 2026: Police arrested and detained two opposition NPP figures, Kwame Baffoe, popularly known as Abronye DC who was arrested on similar charges the previous year, and the NPP Communications Officer for the Sunyani East Constituency, Abubakar Yakubu, also known as Baba Amando, over publications made online.
-April 07, 2026: Pastor William Gyimah, General Overseer of Elohim International Ministry, was arrested after being captured in a viral video on social media platforms, including TikTok, making false and threatening statements directed at the Vice President, Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang.
-March 01, 2026: TikTok creator Isaac Boafo, popularly known as Duabo King, was arrested by the Police Intelligence Directorate in Kumasi over a viral video containing false claims about police officers stationed at the Central Command Police Station in Kumasi. He was subsequently charged with the publication and circulation of false information.
The two laws at the centre of these arrests are problematic for freedom of expression. Section 208 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29), states that: “A person who publishes or reproduces a statement, rumour or report which is likely to cause fear and alarm to the public or to disturb the public peace, knowing or having reason to believe that the statement, rumour or report is false, commits a misdemeanour.”
Although the law was intended to preserve public order, its broad and vague wording leaves room for abuse and selective interpretation. This lack of clarity creates the possibility for authorities to use the law against journalists and citizens expressing dissenting or critical views.
Similarly, Section 76 of the Electronic Communications Act, 2008 (Act 775), criminalises the electronic transmission of false or misleading information likely to prejudice life-saving services or endanger public safety. The law provides for penalties including imprisonment, fines, or both.
While the MFWA recognises the legitimate need for laws that help prevent incitement to violence, harmful disinformation, and threats to public safety, we are deeply concerned about the discriminatory, disproportionate and abuse of these provisions in ways that have a chilling effect on freedom of expression.
Section 208 of the Criminal Offences Act has historical roots in colonial-era restrictions on dissent, while Section 76 of the Electronic Communications Act was originally enacted to address harmful false communications and hoax distress signals. The broad and subjective nature of terms such as “false news,” “fear,” “alarm,” and “offensive conduct” creates significant discretion for law enforcement authorities and increases the risk of politically motivated enforcement. The situation also raises broader constitutional questions about proportionality, democratic tolerance, and the role of criminal sanctions in regulating speech.
While we call on the government to take steps to cease the discriminatory and disproportionate use of these laws, we wish to highlight our deep concern about the growing spate of reckless, baseless, and abusive political rhetoric in public discourses.
We especially caution the media against allowing their platforms to be used as megaphones for content likely to disrupt social cohesion. We also caution content creators and the general public to desist from insulting and offensive comments that can cause social tensions.
We call on political parties to openly denounce vile rhetoric made by their members in the name of party politics as such behaviour, if ignored or encouraged, only undermines Ghana’s democracy, peace and development.
We wish to reiterate our long-standing call for the repeal of Section 76 of the Electronic Communications Act, 2008 (Act 775) and Section 208 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29) .
