Private legal practitioner, Maurice Ampaw, has argued that President John Dramani Mahama benefited from media attacks and insults directed at political opponents while the National Democratic Congress (NDC) was in opposition.

Speaking exclusively with GhanaWeb’s Mandy Agyemang on May 25, 2026, Ampaw said the president should acknowledge this and apologise to Ghanaians amid recent arrests and remand of opposition communicators and activists over speech-related matters.

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He argued that people associated with the NDC also engaged in similar conduct while in opposition.

“I think that the president must also come out clean. First, by apologising to the people of Ghana that he actually benefited from the media attack and insults because people associated with his party were guilty while they were in opposition,” he said.

He stated that the current handling of speech-related offences creates the impression that only opposition members are being targeted.

“So, I think that we need to look at it ethically and ensure that we use the necessary appropriate strategy to curb the abuses in the media space, rather than to go hard at your enemies, and you can see that it is only the opposition party footsoldiers, communicators, bloggers, who are being arrested,” he stated.

Ampaw also claimed that some pro-government media platforms continue to make offensive comments without facing similar action.

“Meanwhile, the president's own media houses, those pro-NDC media houses, are freely insulting, attacking, and bullying on social media,” he alleged.

The lawyer cautioned against suppressing free speech, stressing that freedom of expression is protected under the Constitution.

“We need to be very tactful and strategic in the way we handle issues of free speech. Free speech should be encouraged. There's no need for us to suppress free speech because it is a way by which people express their frustration and anger, and it's guaranteed by the Constitution,” he cautioned.

He further called for stakeholder discussions involving political parties, religious leaders, and the media to address hate speech, false news, and abuse in the media space instead of relying on arrests and remand.

“I think that the government of the day can do better by rather encouraging free speech and also using a stakeholder's meeting, the political parties, the religious leaders, and the media houses to address the issue of hate speech, false news, and abuse of the media.

“Once that is done, there will be a communique as to the way forward. Arrest and remand are ways of abusing the rights of the people,” he added.

He also advocated the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) instead of prosecution and remand for speech-related offences.

“ I think what's got to be done is we should have a way where even when the cases are brought before court, judges must also allow what we call Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR),” he said.

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He stressed that using ADR and out-of-court settlements would help reduce tensions and promote justice without unnecessary imprisonment.

His comments come on the back of the recent arrests of some individuals linked to the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), including the party’s Bono Regional Chairman, Kwame Baffoe Abronye, over alleged false claims and publication of false news.



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