The Circuit Court’s decision to remand Bono Regional NPP Chairman Kwame Baffoe, popularly known as Abronye, has drawn fierce backlash, with critics describing it as a major blow to constitutional justice.
NPP National Organiser and lawyer Henry Nana Boakye, in a detailed Facebook post on Friday, September 12, branded the ruling an “assault on the jurisprudence of bail globally.” Having studied the certified ruling, he argued that the court’s action undermines the very foundation of bail in law.
“Bail is only intended to secure the attendance of an accused person to stand trial, and a court, per Section 96(4) of Act 30, must not withhold bail as punishment, especially when the nature of the offence is a misdemeanour,” Nana Boakye wrote. He cited the Martin Kpebu vs Attorney General (No.2) case to reinforce the point that bail exists to uphold the presumption of innocence.
The NPP organiser further accused the court of judicial bias and inequality. He criticised the ruling’s reliance on the complainant’s status as Inspector General of Police (IGP), describing it as “a judicial endorsement of inequality contrary to Article 17 of the Constitution.” He cautioned that no citizen, including the IGP, should use the justice system for personal scores.
According to him, the ruling was “manifestly prejudicial” as it appeared to suggest Abronye’s guilt even before trial proceedings. He condemned the court for dismissing procedural safeguards and instead relying on outdated legal arguments and conjecture.
Particularly troubling, he said, was the court’s claim that Abronye might commit a similar offence if granted bail — a justification he dismissed as baseless. Quoting Okoe v Republic [1976] 1 GLR 80, he noted that such speculation is “so hazardous that no court of justice should be required to embark on it.”
Concluding his critique, Nana Boakye referenced Stack v Boyle, stressing that bail was never intended to detain accused persons on mere accusations until trial. “It is a safeguard that ensures even the wrongfully accused are not punished before a court determines their guilt,” he wrote.
