Release Salomey Bafoh Awiti – Dr. Bawumia tells govt
Former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has waded into the arrest and detention of Techiman-based nurse, Salomey Bafoh Awiti, describing the development as worrying.
In a statement, Dr. Bawumia said the story of how the nurse and mother of three, including a 4-year-old, was picked up in the middle of the night by national intelligence officers and has been remanded for two weeks on suspicion of abetting the publication of false news is troubling.
“This is not the Ghana we want to build. I can assure Ghanaians that when given the opportunity, our intelligence agencies will not be reduced to chasing citizens for insulting the President or anyone else,” he said.
Dr. Bawumia stated that he has always disavowed politics of insults and will continue to remind all in the political space of the need to be decorous.
“The ideas we need to transform our nation won’t come from insults. But I also remind the NDC government that any infringement on the right to free speech pushes our democracy backwards. Free speech, as unpalatable as it may be sometimes, is the foundation of our democracy,” he noted.
He further accused the government of selective application of the law. “Even more worrying is the government’s continuous selective application of our laws. Some citizens can insult and walk freely, and others are jailed because the government doesn’t like the target of their insults.”
“Please release Salomey Bafor Awiti and others who have been similarly charged and jailed. God bless our homeland Ghana and help us to resist oppressors’ rule!”
About The Author
