Founder and Executive Chairman of the Africa Prosperity Network, Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, has defended comments made by Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin regarding a Circuit Court judge handling the case involving NPP Bono Regional Chairman Kwame Baffoe, arguing that the remarks should be viewed within the context of free speech and democratic accountability.
Afenyo-Markin has faced criticism after publicly challenging the conduct of the presiding judge and stating that he would continue to disregard him over what he described as the wrongful application of the law.
The comments followed the remand of Abronye DC over allegations of offensive conduct likely to disturb public peace and the publication of false statements against a judge.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday, May 20, Otchere-Darko said the Minority Leader’s intervention reflected concerns about civil liberties and the administration of justice rather than partisan politics.
According to him, the matter should not be reduced to a political dispute between the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC), but rather considered within the broader framework of protecting constitutional freedoms.
“Protecting human rights and guarding the dignity of our legal system requires men and women of courage, conviction, and patriotic verve. That is why I doff my hat to Alexander Afenyo-Markin for taking on the judge who displayed such troubling zeal in endorsing the imprisonment of free speech,” he wrote.
“Today, it may be a political activist. Tomorrow it could be the journalist, the radio commentator, the student, the taxi driver, or the ordinary young Ghanaian with a smartphone and an opinion,” he added.
Otchere-Darko further stressed that while the law must be enforced, it should not be applied in a manner that undermines due process or fundamental rights.
“Let the law deal firmly with those who fall foul of it. But let it never do so by compromising the protection of fundamental human rights, due process, and the freedoms that hold our democracy together. Justice must be done and seen to be manifestly done,” he stated.
The comments come amid growing public debate over the judiciary, free speech, and political accountability following the remand of Abronye DC.
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