The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has strongly condemned what it describes as the unlawful arrest and detention of Okatakyie Afrifa Mensah by National Security operatives. According to the NPP, the arrest is part of a wider effort by the John Mahama administration to suppress press freedom and silence critical voices.
In a statement signed by the party’s General Secretary, Justin Kodua Frimpong, the NPP labeled the incident as “state-sponsored lawlessness” and a direct attack on democracy. The party further alleged that the current administration is engaged in a systematic crackdown on media freedom, using state security as a tool for intimidation.
“The Ghana that was bequeathed to them on January 7, 2025, was a free country. It was the bastion of democracy, underpinned not only by the existence of functioning democratic institutions but also by our unflinching commitment to uphold press freedom as enshrined in Chapter 12 of the 1992 Constitution,” the statement read.
The party also commended Ghanaians who spoke out against the arrest and acknowledged the efforts of the young activists and legal professionals who intervened at the National Security Secretariat to secure Mensah’s release.
Highlighting Ghana’s historical commitment to media freedom, the NPP referenced the repeal of the Criminal and Seditious Libel Law in 2001, spearheaded by former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo during his tenure as Attorney General.
The NPP is calling on key media and civil society organizations, including the Ghana Journalists Association and the Media Foundation for West Africa, to join in resisting what they describe as a growing culture of state-sponsored attacks on the press.
“WE call on the Ghana Journalists Association, the Media Foundation of West Africa, Civil Society Organizations, and all stakeholders to join us in demanding an immediate cessation of his tyranny and growing culture if state-sponsored attacks on the media. Enough is enough,” they concluded.
