Oliver Barker-Vormawor, a Lawyer and social activist, has quizzed the John Mahama government over their urgency to arrest TikTokers instead of those poisoning our rivers or stealing public funds.
The Lawyer questioned the priorities of the state, arguing that greater urgency appeared to be attached to pursuing social media commentators rather than addressing other threats affecting the country.
In a Facebook post, Mr Barker-Vormawor wrote, “I am concerned by reports that a middle-aged nurse who has never been to Accra has now, out of nowhere, been accused of a treason plot involving another TikToker known for insulting politicians linked to the current government.
I pray seriously that this is not a return to the Addo-Danquah/Dame years. From all indications, it looks like it; and that’s concerning.
An accusation of such gravity demands a corresponding seriousness of evidence and professional judgment. The state cannot create public alarm and fail to show proof of it.
Treason occupies a particularly dangerous place in the relationship between citizens and power. It allows the state to present an individual as a threat to the continued existence of the constitutional order. The potential for abuse is precisely why its invocation requires exceptional care.
And so if it emerges that the police advanced this allegation without a credible evidential basis, the President should demand the resignation of the senior officers responsible for authorising or knowingly sustaining it. Responsibility must follow the chain of decision-making.
The language of national security cannot become an intellectual refuge for professional incompetence. Those entrusted with coercive power must possess the judgment to distinguish an actual threat from something that merely offends their political sensibilities. Their failure to make that distinction can make a mockery of the State itself.
I have on occasion had reason to warn the Government about the liberal abuse of policing powers and the heavy-handed crackdown on social media commentators.
I will keep repeating this. A nation that pursues TikTokers with greater urgency than those poisoning its rivers or plundering its public resources reveals a distorted conception of security. It becomes exquisitely sensitive to affronts to authority and dangerously indifferent to injuries to the public.
We play too much in this country. And too often, ordinary citizens pay for that level of institutional unseriousness.
Shalom.”
Oliver Baker-Vormawor’s comment follows the arrest of a middle-aged nurse, Salomey Awity Bafoh, who has allegedly been linked to the anonymous TikTok account “Ghana Jollof”.
The incident reportedly occurred between 11 p.m. and midnight on Sunday, September 13, 2026.
According to Salomey’s brother, who was present, three individuals, comprising two men and a woman, arrived at the residence at about 11:30 p.m. dressed in black uniforms, believed to be from National Security.
“They came in black. Two men and a lady,” Salomey’s brother recounted.
“They told me they were National Security and that they were taking my sister to the regional command. I asked what she had done. They asked me to sit down and keep quiet. I just watched her leave and couldn’t do anything,” Antwi Francis said.
Salomey’s family have firmly denied that she has any connection to the “Ghana Jollof” TikTok account, with the circumstances surrounding the arrest generating questions.
The family described the allegation as a case of mistaken identity and insists that Salomey has no association with the anonymous account.
Meanwhile, the anonymous Ghana Jollof TikTok account operates without publicly revealing the identity or face of the person behind it and has built a sizeable following with commentary targeting the President and the First Lady.
Its content includes offensive language directed at political figures, drawing increased public attention to the identity of the person operating the account.
See the post below:
@ghnow_ The PRO of the Voice of Landlords Association Ghana says renting should be treated as a business, stressing that landlords invest money into properties and expect returns from their investments. #GHnow #fyp ♬ original sound – GHnow
@ghnow_ The PRO of the Voice of Landlords Association Ghana explains why landlords increase rent annually, citing rising costs and the need to maintain their properties as part of the rental business. #GHnow #fyp ♬ original sound – GHnow
