The former attorney general and minister of justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, has accused the current NDC government of manipulating the criminal justice system to target political opponents, describing such actions as “unprecedented and deplorable”.
Speaking to the media after visiting the Bono regional chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwame Baffoe (popularly known as Abronye DC) at CID Headquarters in Accra, Dame expressed deep concern about alleged abuses of due process in the Abronye case.
“I very much deplored the manner in which the whole criminal system has been manipulated to attack political opponents, opponents of this administration. That is what, for me, is very reprehensible,” he said.
Unhealthy restrictions
The former attorney general disclosed that Abronye’s lawyers were denied access to their client after court proceedings.
“Since Tuesday, his lawyers had not been able to have access to him. Yesterday, I requested to meet him, and graciously, the police CID brought him here today to meet me. I must express gratitude to the police authorities for doing that,” Dame added.
Clarifying his role in visiting, he stressed: “I’m here not, of course, as a lawyer for Abronye … I came to show solidarity with him and to ensure that all processes are going smoothly.
“But I must once again express the strongest reservations about the manner in which this administration is manipulating and utilising the criminal justice system to intimidate and harass political opponents.”
Dame criticised what he says is the current government’s discriminatory application of the law and emphasised the contrast with previous administrations.
“We have seen quite a lot of grave abuses of human rights, pre-trial processes which are abused, and unlawful arrests. Whenever they think you are saying something that they consider to be unsavoury or offensive, they quickly arrest you.
“After the arrest, they band you before a court on some trumped-up charge,” he said.
He deemed the manner in which enforcement officials are applying the law as “inconsistent with the democratic tenets of the nation”.
Uneven treatment
Dame highlighted the uneven treatment of citizens based on their political affiliation: “Once they attack political opponents by using the criminal processes … members of the administration attack and abuse NPP people and other persons that they perceive to be opposition,” he said.
“You did not see any violation of the criminal laws against them. Clearly, this amounts to a deliberate discriminatory application of the law.”
Regarding the condition in which he had found Abronye, Dame reported that the NPP regional chairman was in high spirits and looking forward to the continuation of the court proceedings tomorrow (September 12, 2025).
“Even though I advised him to try and eat some food, he’s still in an excellent state and confident that bail should be granted. In a matter like this – clearly a misdemeanour under Sections 207 and 208 of Act 29 – there is little justification for denying bail,” he said.
Dame further called for fairness in the application of justice, saying, “We cannot leave the country where some citizens are treated worse than others. All citizens deserve equal treatment under the law.”
