Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has accused the government of weaponising sections of Ghana’s laws to suppress political opposition, satire and commentary it finds uncomfortable.

According to the Member of Parliament, the current administration benefited significantly from political insults and confrontational commentary while in opposition but is now treating similar conduct directed at it as a criminal offence.

Mr Afenyo-Markin made the remarks at the Empower Vault Summit held at the Great Hall of the University of Ghana on Friday, August 14.

He told participants that the government had built political platforms around harsh criticism and insults during its time in opposition and benefited from that political culture in returning to power.

“If there is any government that has benefited from the politics of insults. It is this current one. They mastered it in opposition. They built entire platforms on it. They helped carry them back into office. And now, having ridden the wave to power, the very same comments, aimed the other way, is being treated as crime.”

The comments formed part of a wider engagement with young people at the Empower Vault Summit, a leadership and mentorship platform organised by Horses and Stables in partnership with the Office of the University of Ghana SRC Vice President.

The Majority Leader argued that provisions of existing laws were increasingly being deployed for purposes beyond their original intent, particularly in dealing with political speech and dissent.

He cited Section 76 of the Electronic Communications Act, 2008 (Act 775), as well as Sections 207 and 208 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29), which address matters including the transmission of false information and offensive conduct.

“At the heart of this, is the deliberate weaponization of blocs that were not designed for what they are now being used for.”

He alleged that the provisions were being used to target political opponents and suppress forms of expression that should ordinarily be protected within a democratic society.

“These are the laws weaponized to silence political opponents, punish satire, and criminalize political commentary that the government finds uncomfortable. I can mention a few.”

The Majority Leader also criticised what he described as increasingly harsh conditions attached to the granting of bail.

He argued that the right to bail was being subjected to unnecessary restrictions, resulting in suspects suffering despite having been granted bail.

“Even the exercise of the right to bail is being subjected to unnecessary harsh conditions, which has even received condemnation from members of the government.”

He alleged that bail was effectively being used as a means of imposing hardship on individuals while their cases remained before the courts.

“Bail is now being used to guarantee that people suffer in the time being.”

Mr Afenyo-Markin said he was raising the concerns specifically before young Ghanaians because they would ultimately inherit the legal and political precedents being established today.

He cautioned that laws and state powers that are used against political actors could eventually affect ordinary citizens, including students.

“Mr Chairman, my dear students, I am raising all these on this platform built for young Ghanaians, because you, more than any other group in this country, who live with whatever precedent is being set right now, a law that can silence a party organizer today can silence a final year student tomorrow.”

He therefore urged young people to take an active interest in governance, constitutional rights and the application of the law, arguing that the protection of democratic freedoms should not be viewed solely through the lens of partisan politics.