The largest opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) on Wednesday expressed concern about what it describes as the resurgence of the culture of silence in the country.
The party noted that citizens were increasingly apprehensive about expressing their opinions, criticising leadership, or challenging authority due to the pervasive perception of intimidation, harassment, arrests, and selective justice.
“Concerns regarding the treatment of public commentators, political communicators, and critics, including Abronye, Fante Comedy, Sir Obama Pokuase, Adenta Kumi, Kofi Ofosu Nkansah, and recently Baba Amando, and others, have heightened fears that the criminal libel era may have reemerged”, the party stated in a petition copied to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Sunyani.
Hundreds of aggrieved supporters drawn from the Bono, Bono East and Ahafo Regions and parts of the country hit the principal streets of Sunyani, the Bono Regional capital, to register their displeasure about what they described as “unwarranted arrests and government-sponsored attack on free speech”.
Dubbed: “Yensuro Ahunahuna Demo”, the protesters wore branded black and red ‘T’ shirts, held placards with inscriptions like “No freedom of speech”, “Pay workers their salaries”, “Aboboyaa Aban” and “No freedom no peace”, paraded through the principal streets of Sunyani, amid heavy police presence.
The conveners later led the protestors and sent a copy of the petition, jointly signed by Theophilus Asomah, Evans Kyere and Sir Amoah, to the Bono Regional Coordinating Council (BRCC) in Sunyani.
“We stand before you today not in anger, not in violence, and not in rebellion against the state, but we stand before you peacefully, lawfully, and patriotically because our conscience will not allow us to remain silent while the pillars of our democracy are being raped by government”. It stated.
The petition said: “We convene here under the banner of ‘Yensuro Ahunahuna Demo’ because Ghanaians are increasingly recognising that free speech is under threat, democracy is under siege, and the ordinary citizen is being coerced into silence in the face of this deplorable reality”.
It noted that history had demonstrated that nations did not succumb to collapse in a single day, saying that democracies did not perish overnight; instead, they gradually deteriorated when fear supplanted freedom, intimidation replaced tolerance, and citizens began to suppress their voices due to fear of speaking out.
The petition indicated that although criminal libels might have been abolished by law, many citizens believe that its spirit was gradually reemerging through intimidation and unwarranted arrests.
“We are deeply concerned because democracy thrives in environments of tolerance, dissent, and freedom of expression. Democracy is not tested when individuals express praise for the government; it is tested when citizens criticise the government and still feel secure,” it added.
The petition expressed regret that “many Ghanaians no longer feel safe expressing themselves. Concurrently, the ordinary Ghanaian is grappling with unbearable economic hardship”.
It said: “The youth are historically unemployed, and graduates are roaming the streets without employment opportunities.
“Teachers and nurses continue to lament over unpaid salaries and delayed postings; the cost of living continues to rise exponentially, and electricity tariffs remain exorbitantly high, and transport fares are becoming exorbitant as food prices continue to soar”.
The petition noted that cocoa farmers remained neglected despite their substantial contribution to the economy, while small businesses were also collapsing.
It indicated that: “The much-discussed 24-hour economy remains a distant aspiration for many citizens, as galamsey continues to devastate our rivers, forests, farmlands, and the future of our children”.
The petition called for an urgent need to safeguard free speech and the constitutional rights of all Ghanaians, ending intimidation, harassment, and selective justice, as well as enhancing tolerance for criticism and dissenting opinions.
It called for concrete measures to address youth unemployment as well as immediate steps to resolve unpaid salaries and delayed postings for teachers, nurses, and other public sector workers.
The petition said enhanced measures ought to be put in place to combat galamsey and environmental degradation, calling for policies that alleviate the cost of living and restore optimism to the average Ghanaian, asking for a renewed commitment to democratic principles, accountability, and justice.
Mrs Prisca Andaye, Assistant Coordinating Director at the BRCC, received the petition.
