Dennis Miracles Aboagye, an aspiring National Communications Officer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has cautioned the government against what he describes as the weaponisation of the law against ordinary citizens, particularly in cases involving freedom of speech and social media activity.

Speaking on JoyNews' Newsfile on Saturday, August 8, Mr Aboagye said the government should not use arrests and prosecutions as a substitute for civic education, especially when dealing with citizens who may not fully understand the limits of their right to free expression.

“What I think the government can do is to rather activate state institutions like NCCE to begin to educate these people and tell them, listen, yes, there is free speech,” he said.

“But within the free speech, you can't say A, you can't say B, you can't say C.”

He said citizens should instead be educated on the boundaries of free speech and encouraged to express themselves responsibly.

“And begin to encourage them. You don't go rather weaponising those who take a job,” he added.

Democracy and the right to protest

Mr Aboagye also rejected arguments that Ghana's democracy cannot be under threat simply because citizens have been allowed to organise and participate in demonstrations.

“Democracy has several tools. Democracy has several tools. Protest is one of them,” he said.

He argued that allowing demonstrations alone does not demonstrate that all democratic principles are being respected.

“If you accept the principles and systems of governance and democracy, you don't do some and leave some,” he said.

“You don't go arresting people in their bedrooms for insult and use the fact that you allow them to protest as an example of democracy.”

He described such an approach as hypocritical. “Try that. You are hypocrite if you do that,” he said.

Mr Aboagye maintained that democratic rights must be applied consistently, regardless of which political party is in government.

A call for consistency

Mr Aboagye's central argument was that democratic principles should not be applied selectively.

He said people who previously supported the targeting of political opponents should be mindful that the same practices could eventually affect ordinary citizens.

The debate, he suggested, should therefore move beyond the NPP and NDC and focus on the protection of citizens, freedom of expression, the right to protest and the fair application of the law.

“Forget about us,” he reiterated. “The citizens, the market women by the roadside.”