NPP will reject attempts to silence members – Kwesi Botchway Jnr

A member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Communications Team, Kwesi Botchway Jnr, has said the party will resist any attempts by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to silence its members.

Reacting to the raid of the home of the former GIHOC boss Maxwell Kofi Jumah and the remand of the party's Communications Officer in Sunyani East, Abubakar Yakubu, popularly known as Baba Amando, on Channel One TV on April 15, 2026, he argued that the situation reflects unfair treatment and political inconsistency.

“The New Patriotic Party will reject any attempt by the National Democratic Congress to silence its members, because what we are seeing now is a clear pattern where one side is treated differently while the other side is allowed to go free for doing similar or even worse things in the past,” he said.

The NPP communicator described Baba Amando's remand over allegations of publishing false news as a worrying trend.

“A member of the NPP Communications Team, Baba Amando, has been remanded for two weeks for allegedly publishing false news, and this is something we believe is being handled in a way that raises serious questions, especially when you compare it to how similar or even more serious political statements have been treated in the past,” he stated.

Kwesi Botchway Jnr also argued that political actors have made harsh accusations in the past without facing similar legal consequences, suggesting selective enforcement.

“Meanwhile, these people did worse than almost everything they are now accusing others of, and yet when those things happened in the past, nobody was arrested, nobody was dragged to court, nobody was remanded for weeks, so why is it different today?” he questioned.

He also criticised what he described as hypocrisy in political reactions, adding that parties must be consistent in how they respond to similar situations.

“It is rather unfortunate, but the NDC cannot take a dose of their own medication, because when they were in opposition, they said all kinds of things, made all kinds of accusations, and now that the same standard is being applied, suddenly it has become a problem.

“President Mahama accused President Akufo-Addo of enabling his family members to steal for him, and these were very serious statements, so the question is, was that a factual statement? Was that an accurate statement? Yet, at the time, nobody was arrested or remanded for saying those things,” he noted.

Kwesi Botchway Jr explained that he is not justifying wrongdoing but rather pointing out what he believes is inconsistency in how political speech is treated.

“Let me be clear; I am not here to justify the actions of anybody, but what I am saying is that we need to compare situations, because if the same things happened in the past and were treated differently, then we must ask ourselves why things are being handled differently now,” he added.

Baba Amando has been remanded by an Accra Circuit Court on charges including offensive conduct, false publication, and the circulation of statements likely to incite fear and panic.

JKB/AE

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