Martin Kpebu Claims Mahama Government Has Arrested More People Over Free Speech Than Akufo-Addo Administration
Private legal practitioner Martin Kpebu has claimed that the Mahama administration has arrested more people over matters of free speech in its first one and a half years in office than the erstwhile Akufo-Addo government did in eight years.
Speaking on TV3’s Key Points on Saturday, August 8, 2026, Mr Kpebu described the trend as a poor record for President John Dramani Mahama and cautioned the government against continuing along that path.
“For one and a half years, this current government has arrested more people on matters of free speech than Akufo-Addo’s eight years. It is a bad record for John Mahama; they should be careful. Mahama should pay attention,” he said.
He warned that the pattern, if left unchecked, could cost the government public goodwill.
“These things start small, before he realises all the goodwill is gone. Let the people talk. During Akufo-Addo’s tenure, Mahama called him and others ‘Akyem sakawa mafia’, who arrested him?” he asked.
Mr Kpebu cited instances involving the late former President Jerry John Rawlings and other public figures who made harsh comments about political leaders without facing arrest, arguing that such precedents showed arrests were not the appropriate response to offensive remarks.
“We said Akufo-Addo was stone-deaf; ‘mampam’ did he arrest me? Nana Yaa Jantuah called Akufo-Addo Nebuchadnezzar; she popularised it. Allow Ghanaians to talk,” he said.
“Late President Jerry John Rawlings called former President J.A. Kufuor while in office a thief. He didn’t arrest J.J. You can’t shut people down by arrests. I think the government should sit up. As for the insult, there is nothing you can do; it’s part of accountability,” he stressed.
Rather than arrests, Mr Kpebu suggested alternative measures such as fines or public naming and shaming for individuals who make offensive comments about the President or government officials.
Although he acknowledged that insulting public officials was wrong, he maintained that the state could not arrest everyone who made offensive remarks, and called for a national conversation on how to address such commentary without resorting to arrests.
Similar concerns have come from within the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) itself. Also speaking on the same programme, the Majority Chief Whip and Member of Parliament for South Dayi, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, said repeated arrests over people’s utterances could create the impression that the government was suppressing dissent, particularly amid accusations by the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) of political persecution and abuse of state institutions.
Mr Dafeamekpor said the government should focus on delivering its mandate rather than allowing arrests over political comments to become a source of controversy.
“I am upset by some of these arrests; it hurts the government. Sometimes government doesn’t even sanction them; it’s the police,” he said.
“I think that as government, we must pay attention to some of these things; it doesn’t help. These things don’t detract from the government in any way, so they should allow the people to speak. Let’s focus on our mandate and deliver. As a government, we don’t want this at all. Arresting people and confining them, it doesn’t help us. That is my disclaimer,” he said.
The remarks by both Mr Kpebu and Mr Dafeamekpor come in the wake of the NPP’s “Democracy Under Attack” demonstration on Thursday, 6 August 2026, which the party said was organised to defend the rule of law, constitutional governance and democratic accountability.
