The invasion of the houses of some political opponents by the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC); and the arrest and illegal detentions of some of them amount to nothing short of human rights violations and a breach of the principles of the rule of law.
In 1992, Ghanaians agreed on a roadmap to return the country to democratic governance and the rule of law after eleven years of military dictatorship at the mercy of the Provisional National Defense Council (PNDC). Led by Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings, Ghanaians quietly and painfully endured military brutalities and the culture of silence. This explains why Ghanaians voted overwhelmingly to endorse the transitional provisions and the 1992 Constitution.
However, in our desire to get rid of military dictatorship, Ghanaians endorsed the transitional provisions without carefully scrutinizing aspects of the provisions that provided blanket protections for the military and their civilian actors, who committed countless human rights violations against innocent people.
Wind of change
Once Ghanaians embraced the wind of change, it was expected that the brutal use of the coercive forces of the state to suppress political dissent would neither be exercised by any government nor be tolerated by Ghanaians. We chose the democratic path because all over the world, democracy has become the cornerstone of human dignity as well as an indicator for social progress.
Democratisation has been described as the political change of moving in a democratic direction from less accountable to more accountable governance, from less competitive elections to fuller elections, and from severely restricted to better protected civil and political rights (Porter, 1997). Thus, democratisation involves actions, choices and initiatives that ultimately lead to socio-economic development, not the deterioration of what existed before the change of government.
Self-expression
In other words, there is a positive correlation between democratisation, development, the rule of law and human rights protection. For this reason, Ghanaians chose to shape their destiny and aspirations through civil activities and the submission to the rule of law. Otherwise, there was no need to adopt the 1992 Constitution. We might as well have stayed under the PNDC dictatorship. Over the years, our democratisation has not progressed because of the pursuit of selfish and parochial interests of the ruling class.
Moreover, democracy is the means through which people express themselves and aspire for a better future, a future where no one will be illegally arrested and detained without charge before a competent court and given a fair hearing.
In fact, governments are voted to improve the social, political and economic conditions they inherited, and not to undermine what they inherited. Therefore, any attempt by a government or political party or groups of people to rule by violence, intimidation, human rights violations or political torture should not be countenanced by all Ghanaians.
Detention of Wontumi
A classic case is the arrest and detention of the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the opposition New Patriotic Party, Mr. Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly called Chairman Wontumi. Obviously, Chairman Wontumi’s constitutional and human rights were violated when he was detained at the premises of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) for seven solid days without charge.
My ordinary man’s understanding of the rule of law is that no Ghanaian should be detained for more than 48 hours without being charged before a court of law. It is only a legally constituted court that can remand a suspect for more days. What has happened to the legal requirement of “innocent until proven guilty”?
Clearly, the state actors, right from the presidency to the Attorney-General and EOCO failed to exercise good discretion over the use of state power. Rather than abiding by due process of the law, they acted in violation of the rules of natural justice and the provisions of the 1992 Constitution. The 1992 Constitution provides for the protection of individual rights and liberties, no matter which government is in power.
On January 7, 2025, President John Dramani Mahama swore an oath to protect and uphold the 1992 Constitution. He also swore to ensure justice for all manner of people. Is the President abiding by the oaths he swore?
Several questions remain unanswered on the arrest of Wontumi. Why did the government fail to arraign him before the court? Was it for lack of evidence or to merely show him where power lies? For a reminder, absolute power only resides in God, not man, so when men have power, they need to use the power with caution and with good discretion.
Criticising the President
Prior to the arrest of Wontumi, there were several reports of government and security operatives threatening radio commentators, bloggers and citizen journalists for criticising their government. At the time of writing, I gathered that state security had confiscated Hajia Fati’s car, as part of the agenda to silence critical voices. Similarly, there were reports of a market woman in the Central Region who was arrested for allegedly making disparaging remarks about President Mahama. Also, a young comedian with blog name “Fante Comedy” is being pursued by the police and party macho men for his comments on social media. Since when did freedom of expression become a crime under the Fourth Republic? Have we returned to the state of nature, where rule of law does not exist?
Between 2020 and 2024 Ghana witnessed the most reckless and unethical use of radio, television and social media by supporters of the NDC to incite political, religious, and ethnic tension. Some of the NDC supporters, notably Captain Smart, Afua Pokua, and Kevin Taylo,r among others used the national spectrum and digital sphere to advocate for a military coup. Their utterances were calculated to trigger ethnic violence and pitting other tribes against the Ashantis as an election strategy. None of the naysayers were arrested and detained for seven days without trial.
It must be pointed out that the government and its supporters and state security operatives are setting a very dangerous precedent that could launch our beloved country into a vicious cycle of retribution with the change of government. After more than 30 years of our current dispensation, Ghana deserves better and should not be subjected to the “politics of you do me, I do you.” Is that all the much-advertised “resetting Ghana” has to offer?
Dictatorship
It is a known fact that dictatorship often starts with an assault on individual rights, it extends to abuse of group rights and eventually our collective social, economic and political rights. Dictatorship becomes entrenched when society fails to stand up to it. Since January 7, 2025 when NDC youth vandalized parts of the country, esteemed bodies like the National House of Chiefs, the Christian Council, the Catholic Bishops Conference, the Pentecostal Council , the National Peace Council, the Moslem Council, the Trades Union Congress and other workers’ associations, NGOs and CSOs and finally the National Union of Ghana Students have been disturbingly quiet over infractions of peoples’ rights.
Gross Domestic Product
In fact, the brazen use of state power adds nothing to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Ghana. Moreover, the non-discretionary use of state power does nothing to reduce unemployment among the youth. I would rather, that the President and his cabinet focused on finding solutions to unemployment, resolving what appears to be the return of “Dum Sor” and resolving the impending labour unrest.
As I stated earlier, good governance is about improving the performance of the previous government and making a clean break from past mistakes. For this reason, it is unacceptable if government changes hands only for governance to retrogress, especially in human rights and the rule of law.
References
Potter, D. (1997) “Explaining Democratisation”, in Allen, T and Thomas, A. (eds.) Poverty and Development into the 21st Century, Oxford/Open.
The writer is a Development and Communications Management Specialist, and a Social Justice Advocate. All views expressed in this article are his personal views and do not represent those of any organization (s). (Email: safoamos@gmail.com)
By Amos Safo