The Minority Leader in Parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has demanded the immediate and unconditional release of Kwame Baffoe, popularly known as Abronye DC, from the custody of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI).
Abronye DC, who serves as the Bono Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), was remanded into BNI custody on May 13, 2026, following comments he allegedly made about a judge.
He is expected to reappear before Circuit Court 9 in Accra on May 27, 2026.
Addressing a press conference in Accra on Sunday, Afenyo-Markin described the arrest, prosecution, and remand of the NPP chairman as “a profound constitutional wrong” and an act of political intimidation.
“Mr. Kwame Baffoe, Abronye DC, must be released from BNI custody immediately. His detention is constitutionally indefensible and must end today,” Afenyo-Markin declared.
He further argued that “the arrest, prosecution, and remand of a citizen for words spoken in the public square is not justice. It is persecution.”
The Effutu Member of Parliament challenged the legality of Abronye DC’s continued detention, alleging that no signed and certified remand order had been made available days after the court proceeding.
“A remand order is not a verbal instruction. It is a formal judicial instrument. It is the written legal authority upon which the deprivation of a citizen’s liberty must rest,” he said.
Afenyo-Markin questioned the legal basis on which the Ghana Police Service transferred Abronye DC to BNI custody, insisting that the absence of a certified remand order, if confirmed, would render the detention unlawful.
“This office puts the Ghana Police Service, the Bureau of National Investigations, and Circuit Court 9 on clear and unambiguous notice,” he warned.
The Minority Leader also took issue with the court’s decision to deny bail, noting that prosecutors opposed bail because the accused might repeat the alleged offence if released.
“In other words, the state asked a court to imprison a man before any finding of guilt because he might speak again. A citizen imprisoned not for what he did, but for what he might say, that is not law. That is censorship from the bench,” Afenyo-Markin said.
He maintained that the decision violated constitutional provisions on personal liberty and the presumption of innocence.
Afenyo-Markin further claimed that the case against Abronye DC was part of a broader pattern of state-sponsored intimidation targeting members of the opposition NPP.
He cited the arrests and prosecutions of party communicators and activists, including Baba Amando, David Essandoh, and Alfred Ababio Kumi (also known as Adenta Kumi).
“These are not isolated incidents. This is state-sponsored political persecution, and it must stop,” he said.
He called on civil society organisations, the media, and the legal fraternity to speak out against what he described as attacks on free expression.
Abronye DC is facing charges of offensive conduct conducive to a breach of peace and publication of false news under the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29).
The charges stem from comments he allegedly made in a social media video criticising the conduct and impartiality of a Circuit Court judge.
