Flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has condemned the arrest and remand of a Techiman-based nurse and mother of three, Salomey Bafor Awiti, in connection with an alleged case involving the publication of false news.
Bawumia said the circumstances surrounding the reported arrest of the nurse, who has a four-year-old child, raise concerns about the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms in Ghana.
In a social media post on Friday, September 18, Bawumia said it was worrying that Salomey was reportedly picked up in the middle of the night by national intelligence officers and subsequently remanded for two weeks.
“This is not the Ghana we want to build. I can assure Ghanaians that when given the opportunity, our intelligence agencies will not be reduced to chasing citizens for insulting the President or anyone else.”
Bawumia said he has consistently opposed the use of insults in political discourse and urged political actors and citizens to engage one another respectfully.
“I have always disavowed a politics of insults and will remind all in the political space of the need to be decorous. The ideas we need to transform our nation won’t come from insults. But I also remind the NDC government that any infringement on the right to free speech pushes our democracy backwards. Free speech, as unpalatable as it may be sometimes, is the foundation of our democracy.”
He further raised concerns about what he described as the selective application of laws, arguing that similar conduct by different individuals should attract equal treatment regardless of the political status of the person targeted.
“Even more worrying is the government’s continuous selective applications of our laws. Some citizens can insult and walk freely and others are jailed because the government doesn’t like the target of their insults.”
The Adentan Circuit Court 1 in Accra has remanded a Senior Nursing Officer, Salomey Awity Baffoe, into custody for two weeks over allegations that she operates the controversial TikTok account, “Ghana Jollof,” which has been critical of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) officials.
The court’s decision followed her arrest in connection with investigations into individuals allegedly linked to the social media account.
Salomey 40, was picked up in a midnight raid on Sunday, September 13, at her home in Hansua, Techiman Municipality in the Bono East Region.
However, the arrest and the remand have been described by political analysts and social media activists as balderdash after it emerged that the police probably arrested a wrong person.
What is even more bizarre is that the police has placed one Barbara Asantewaa Kodua apparently known as ‘Ghana Jollof’ under a wanted list even after arresting Salomey.
Again, “Ghana Jollof” account itself released a video shortly after Salomey’s arrest, mocking security operatives for detaining a wrong person.
“You people are fools. You arrested the wrong person. Salomey Baffoe is not Ghana Jollof. I am Ghana Jollof. You think you can silence me by arresting an innocent woman? You are wasting your time,” the distorted voice in the video declared.
Antwi Francis, brother of Salomey, indicated that three individuals- two men and one woman dressed in black uniforms and claimed to be National Security operatives stormed the residence at approximately 11:30pm.
“They didn’t show us any warrant. They didn’t state the grounds for arrest. They just told me they were taking my sister to the regional command,” Antwi recounted.
Sadly, Salomey’s mother, who lives in Jema in the Kintampo South Constituency, received a distressing phone call from a man identifying himself as being with the Jema BNI, who alleged that her daughter was “Ghana Jollof.”
The elderly woman, in tears, appealed to President John Dramani Mahama to intervene.
“I am begging President Mahama; please, help me. I don’t know where my daughter is. I don’t know if she has eaten. I don’t know if she is alive. Please, bring her back to me,” she pleaded.
Background
Days before her arrest, Salomey Baffoe had taken to social media to deny any connection to the “Ghana Jollof” account.
In a viral video, she urged the public to disregard what she described as false claims about her identity.
“I want to urge the public to ignore the lies being spread about me. I am not Ghana Jollof. I am a mother. I am a trader. I have nothing to do with that account. Please, let me live my life in peace,” she said.
Two days later, she was arrested.
The video, which has since gone viral, appeared to confirm the family’s insistence that Salomey was not the person behind the account.
