Data Scientist and Policy Analyst, Alfred Appiah, has fired shots at Ghanaian voices who, under the former NPP government, spread false claims like the Agyapadie state capture document, Serwaa Broni’s allegations against former President Akufo-Addo, and false claims of Dr Mahamudu Bawumia owning Hubtel.
According to Alfred Appiah, Agyapadie’s book and Serwaa Broni’s promoters have suddenly become apostles of ‘true and decorous’ speech under the Mahama government.
He argued that the same people who were spreading the lies are today supporting arrests for “offensive” speech under the Mahama government.
Alfred Appiah highlighted that the Mahama government is inadvertently making silly people popular with numerous arrests of TikTokers and activists for posts deemed threatening or false.
In a post on X, the Policy Analyst wrote, “The same people who promoted the fictitious Agyapadie book, the Serwaa Broni claims, Bawumia’s alleged ownership of Hubtel, and several other misinformation campaigns have suddenly become apostles of “true and decorous” speech.
Now, some of the same voices are defending the arrest of people over what they say.
The police will continue to make arrests over speech until the government makes it unequivocally clear that speech should not be criminalised. If someone believes they have been defamed, the appropriate remedy is a civil defamation action, not criminal sanctions!
Government is also inadvertently making silly people popular!”
Meanwhile, the Mahama government has been receiving backlash over the constant arrest of TikTokers and the one-year jail sentence of TikToker Camila Alhassan.
Also, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, the former Vice President and NPP Flagbearer, has called on the Ghana Police Service and the Attorney-General to discontinue the prosecution of an NDC organiser, Prince Aboagye, from Agona West over alleged false publications and offensive comments made about him.
According to Dr Bawumia, he neither lodged a complaint nor authorised the prosecution, stressing that he does not support arresting or prosecuting Ghanaians in his name over speech.
Dr Bawumia highlighted that the answer to offensive speech is better speech, and the answer to falsehood is truth, not handcuffs, courtrooms, and crushing bail conditions imposed on ordinary Ghanaians.
However, Shamima Muslim, the Deputy Presidential Spokesperson, has said that President John Dramani Mahama does not have the time to call for the arrest of TikTokers or anyone.
The Deputy Presidential Spokesperson highlighted that President Mahama is not interested in following the bad example of the NPP by eroding the trust of Ghana’s accountability.
Speaking on StarrFM, Shamima Muslim stated, “President Mahama is not interested in following the bad example of the NPP. He is not interested in eroding the trust of our accountability institutions; he is interested in building good governance principles that restore trust in these institutions.
These institutions are not perfect institutions that we all agree on; the judiciary, the legislature, the executive, and the media are not perfect institutions. They are human institutions; they can also be influenced.
The security agencies, do you think that President Mahama actually takes the telephone or sends somebody to go and tell the IGP to arrest this person and not give the person bail?
So you think President Mahama has time to send someone to go and arrest a TikToker, then you don’t know who President Mahama is”, she added.
See the post below:
The same people who promoted the fictitious Agyapadie book, the Serwaa Broni claims, Bawumia’s alleged ownership of Hubtel, and several other misinformation campaigns have suddenly become apostles of “true and decorous” speech.
— Alfred (@CallmeAlfredo) August 4, 2026
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