Abronye DC Very Sick In BNI Cells – Oppong Nkrumah Reveals

Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, legal representative for the Bono Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwame Baffoe, popularly known as Abronye DC, has raised serious concerns about his client’s deteriorating health, saying authorities have also restricted his access to lawyers while in custody.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Midday News on Tuesday, May 19, 2026, Oppong Nkrumah said Abronye DC has been in custody since Wednesday, May 13.

According to him, the situation has become more worrying because both family members and legal representatives have been repeatedly denied access to him while he remains in the custody of the Bureau of National Intelligence (BNI), making it difficult to properly assess his health status or provide legal support.

According to him, repeated attempts to reach authorities for clarification have not yielded results, with different agencies giving conflicting responses about responsibility for the case.

“The information we are getting is that Abronye is in a very difficult health condition now while in custody and they are not allowing families or lawyers to have access to him, just because they don’t like how he communicate and what he says.

 In a democracy you may disagree to what somebody says, but to use arrest, detention, denial of bail as a tool to try and suppress voices of opposition is totally unacceptable in democracy.”

He also revealed that the only person allowed to see Abronye DC in recent days is his wife, who visited him on Saturday. According to him, her account paints a worrying picture of the situation.

He continued, “We are his lawyers and we are being told that his health condition, they are not giving us access to him in custody, it was only his wife they allow to see him very briefly just at the tail end of last week and informed us that his health condition is very dire.”

Oppong Nkrumah added that the legal team is frustrated by what he described as a “back and forth” between police and security agencies over jurisdiction. He explained that whenever lawyers visit one institution, they are referred to another, leaving them without any clear access point.

“They are not allowing the lawyers access to see him since Wednesday. When you go to the BNI, they say it is a police case. When you go to the police, they send you back. It has been back and forth,” he said.

The former Information Minister further stressed that the continued detention raises broader concerns about fairness, due process, and political tolerance in Ghana’s democratic system. He argued that denying bail and restricting access to legal counsel risks creating an impression that state institutions are being used to silence dissenting voices.

Abronye DC was rearrested on Wednesday, May 13, 2026, just weeks after he had earlier been granted bail in connection with allegations relating to misinformation and offensive public statements made in the course of his political commentary.

Oppong Nkrumah also took issue with what he described as unnecessary delays in the release of court documents connected to the case.

He said, “A simple refusal of a bail application should not take seven days for the order to be drafted. It was only in the last hour after my first interview that my lawyers informed me that the court registrars had finally furnished us with a copy of the order.”

 

Court Full Ruling

At the heart of the legal battle is the Accra Circuit Court, which has already provided detailed reasons for refusing bail to Kwame Baffoe. The court indicated that it believed there was a risk the accused could commit further offences if released.

Abronye DC appeared before Judge Joseph Yennuban Kunsong and pleaded not guilty to charges of offensive conduct conducive to the breach of peace and publication of false news, under Sections 207(1) and 208(1) of Ghana’s Criminal Code, 1960 (Act 29).

During the proceedings, the prosecution withdrew a charge sheet filed on April 14 and replaced it with a new one filed on May 12, 2026. The court approved the amendment.

Lawyers for Baffoe, Daniel Martey Addo and Eugene Ansah, applied for bail. They argued that their client had already been granted police enquiry bail on a GH¢50,000 bond with two sureties, had complied with all previous court appearances, and was not a flight risk. They further argued that keeping him in custody violated his constitutional rights under Article 14 of the 1992 Constitution.

However, the prosecution, led by DSP Emmanuel Nyamekye and ACP Alex Odonkor, strongly opposed the bail application. They argued that Abronye DC was already facing a similar charge in another case and that the alleged offence was committed while he was still on bail. They relied on Sections 96(5)(c) and (d) of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1960 (Act 30), as well as Section 208(1) of Act 29 and Section 296(4) of Act 30.

In his ruling, Judge Kunsong stated, “The court is of the view that when granted bail the accused will commit further offences. This court specifically relies on Section 96(5)(c) and (d) of Act 30 of 1960.”

The court therefore refused the bail application and ordered that Baffoe be remanded into Bureau of National Investigations custody. He is expected to reappear on May 27, 2026. The court also directed the prosecution to complete investigations and file all necessary disclosures within 14 days to ensure a faster hearing process.

In a detailed ruling later released, the court reaffirmed its position, stating that it was satisfied there were reasonable grounds to believe the accused might reoffend if released. It emphasized that its decision was firmly grounded in Section 96(5)(c) and (d) of Act 30.

While acknowledging the defence’s arguments, including previous police bail and constitutional protections, the court maintained that the risk of further alleged offences outweighed those considerations at this stage of the proceedings.

The decision has since generated political reactions, with Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin criticising the ruling and suggesting that the court misapplied the law. He also stated that he would “continue to disrespect” the judge over what he described as a flawed interpretation of bail provisions, comments that have further fueled debate about judicial independence.

 

Oppong Nkrumah also claimed that more than 16 members of the opposition NPP have been arrested since the current government assumed office, many allegedly over social media comments deemed offensive by authorities.

He linked these concerns to Abronye DC’s case, arguing that it reflects a broader pattern of intimidation.

According to him, “The whole idea is to intimidate people and ensure that everybody keeps quiet when they are failing on delivering on the promises they made to the Ghanaian people.”

He assured that the NPP will continue to challenge the situation through both legal processes and public advocacy, insisting that the party will not remain silent in the face of what it considers unfair treatment.