High Court refuses bail to Techiman nurse charged over 'Ghana Jollof' TikTok account

Pinned summary · as of 06:44

The High Court in Accra has refused bail to Salomey Awity Baffoe, 40, a Techiman-based senior nursing officer accused of aiding the spread of false news through the Ghana Jollof TikTok account. The ruling on Thursday, 24 September, keeps her in custody while investigators continue their work. Her defence team has said it will challenge the decision.

What we know

• The High Court in Accra denied bail on Thursday, 24 September, to Ms Baffoe, who is charged in connection with the Ghana Jollof account and is a senior nursing officer based in Techiman.
• Ms Baffoe faces a charge of abetting the publication of false news. She stays in custody after the ruling.
• Justice Halimah El-Alawah Abdul-Baasit gave the ruling as the Vacation High Court. The judge described the probe as cyber-related and said that freeing Ms Baffoe now could expose witnesses or electronic records to interference. The court also told the Republic to speed up its investigation.
• Prosecutors resisted bail, saying Ms Baffoe was still needed to assist investigators and to help them find a second person known as Ghana Jollof.
• Her lawyer, Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah, argued that she is presumed innocent, that the offence is a misdemeanour and that the State had shown no concrete evidence she would interfere with the case. He also pointed to her three minor children, one of whom is due to begin senior high school.
• Mr Awuah told reporters the defence will appeal and means to petition the Chief Justice so that the Court of Appeal can hear the matter despite the vacation. He said the defence accepts the High Court's authority but believes it gave too little weight to important documents.
• The defence also argued that the police charge sheet shows the inquiry into Ms Baffoe herself is finished, and that what remains concerns other people alleged to have shared the videos. Mr Awuah asked how she could tamper with material when investigators already hold her phones.
• Police allege that Ms Baffoe helped the person behind the Ghana Jollof account, while prosecutors told the court that inquiries showed she made the alleged offence possible. These are accusations, and she has not been convicted.
• Before the High Court hearing, the Adentan Circuit Court in Accra had placed her on a two-week remand.
• She was taken from her home in Hansua, in the Techiman Municipality, at night on Sunday, 13 September. Reports say three men who called themselves National Security operatives carried out the arrest.
• Ghana Jollof is a TikTok account known for criticising government officials.
• The bail application was first before the High Court on 23 September, when it was pushed to the next day so the State could file a response. Prosecutors pointed to the Monday public holiday and late service of the papers, and the defence objected to the delay.

What's disputed / unconfirmed

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  Reports differ on dates. Kumasi Mail placed the High Court ruling on 25 September and the Circuit Court remand on 17 September, while Onua Online and Nkonkonsa put the remand on Friday, 18 September and other reports place the ruling on 24 September.
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  Onua Online and Nkonkonsa reported that police said a forensic check of Ms Baffoe's phone and mobile money records turned up financial links to the alleged account operator. This is a police allegation and no other report has confirmed it.
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  Onua Online and Nkonkonsa also reported that Ms Baffoe pleaded not guilty and that the case would return to the Adentan Circuit Court on 28 September. Onua Online later said she stays in custody until a hearing on 30 September; other reports have not confirmed either date.
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  The Custodian reported that Ms Baffoe had put out a viral video a few days ahead of her arrest, denying any tie to the account. It also cited analysts and activists who said police may have arrested the wrong person, after the account released a video mocking the security operatives. Police have not been reported as accepting this, and other reports do not confirm it.
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  According to the Custodian, her brother said the men showed no warrant and gave no reasons for taking her. Rainbow Radio Online reported that police in the Bono East Region and the regional National Security office first said they had no record of the raid. Neither account has been confirmed by other reports.
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  The Vaultz News reported that the Director General of Police had said investigators already accessed data on her phone, which the defence disputes. The Ghana Report added that the defence argues any access took place without her lawyers present and without her consent.
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  Kumasi Mail reported that the judge stressed the ruling implies no finding of guilt and that Ms Baffoe may reapply for bail if circumstances change materially, and that the court asked for prompt medical attention for her if needed. No other report carried these points.
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  Onua Online quoted Enoch Afoakwa, another member of her legal team, as saying there is no evidence she could interfere with investigations and that the court leaned on bare assertions in the State's affidavit. This has not been confirmed by other reports.
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  The Vaultz News reported that Minority Chief Whip Jerry Ahmed Shaib questioned the grounds for holding her and argued the ruling could pull attention away from cocaine investigations. Deputy Minority Leader Patricia Appiagyei urged greater sensitivity to mothers and children in the case. These are their own views, reported by that publication alone.
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  The Vaultz News also reported that lawyer Martin Kpebu faulted the office of the Attorney-General for seeking for more time to answer the bail application, calling it a setback for personal liberty. This has not been confirmed by other reports.

Why it matters for Ghana

The case tests how far a cyber-related investigation can justify holding someone before trial, a question that matters to anyone in Ghana who posts political commentary online. For Ms Baffoe's family in Techiman, the ruling means her children stay without their mother for at least a while longer, and her defence says one child's move to secondary school is being affected. The planned appeal could take the question of bail for a misdemeanour charge to the Court of Appeal.