Minority MPs press for release of remanded nurse in Ghana Jollof case

Pinned summary · as of 06:54

Salomey Awiti Bafoh, a senior nursing officer, is being held on remand in a case tied to the "Ghana Jollof" social media account, and opposition MPs are now demanding that she be freed or that her detention be reviewed. The Minority Women's Caucus and the wider Minority Caucus in Parliament both spoke out within days of each other, citing her right to be presumed innocent.

What we know

• Ms Bafoh, a nursing officer, has been remanded in custody in a case involving the "Ghana Jollof" social media page, according to reports by The Vaultz News and The Custodian.
• The Minority Women's Caucus asked for her continued detention to be reviewed, and the Minority Caucus in Parliament demanded that she be granted bail without delay.
• Both groups of opposition MPs framed their positions around her right to be presumed innocent and to due process, and both pointed to concerns about how she has been handled by the authorities.

What's disputed / unconfirmed

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  The Vaultz News reported that Ms Bafoh, aged 40 and from Techiman, was charged with abetment of crime over the alleged publication of false news and was remanded for two weeks. The same report said she pleaded not guilty and is due back at the Adentan Circuit Court on 30 September 2026. No other report has repeated these details.
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  According to The Vaultz News, prosecutors alleged that Ms Bafoh helped Barbara Asantewaa Kodua, known as Ghana Jollof, spread videos by getting other people to share them, and investigators alleged that money transfers link the two women. Police said they think Ms Kodua lives in the UK, that she has been declared wanted, and that they are still looking for others who may have shared the content or funded it. None of this has been tested in court, and no second report carries it.
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  Osagyefo Oliver Barker-Vomawor, a private lawyer who also serves as the committee's secretary for constitutional review implementation, told The Vaultz News that the arrest dates given for Ms Bafoh conflict, with 13 September in some accounts and 17 September in later communication. He argued this matters because the Constitution limits how long a person can be held before appearing in court. He also said that offensive online material is not automatically criminal, that money transfers alone do not prove financing of an offence, and that the state should apply the law by the same standards whichever government is in office.
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  The Minority Caucus claimed Ms Bafoh was not put before a judge inside the 48-hour window set by the Constitution, and asked the Interior and National Security ministers to explain the legal basis for what it called a midnight arrest by the National Signals Bureau. It also wants the state human rights body, CHRAJ, to look into the treatment of her rights. These are the caucus's claims, reported only by Ghana MPs, and the authorities' side is not given.
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  The Minority Caucus alleged that officers of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) tried to arrest Hon. Nana Adjei Baffour Awuah, Ms Bafoh's lawyer, inside the High Court premises shortly after he argued for her release. The caucus demanded that EOCO publish the offence and any warrant behind the move, and that the office drop its threats against two people who intervened. EOCO's account is not included in these reports.
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  The Minority Women's Caucus told The Custodian that the prosecution's allegations against Ms Bafoh had reportedly shifted as the investigation went on. It urged the state to treat offensive commentary the same way whichever political figure is targeted, saying the law "cannot have two faces", and it urged Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, the Vice President, to speak up for fair treatment. It also accused commentator Kevin Taylor of past offensive remarks about opposition figures, a claim that nobody else has reported and that the report does not show him answering.
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  Ghana MPs reported that the Minority Caucus tied these events to its push to have Parliament recalled over drug seizures linked to Ghana, citing about 3.9 tonnes of cocaine seized at Dunkirk, France, on 10 September, and warned it would pursue Ministers and EOCO's Executive Director through parliamentary procedures.

Why it matters for Ghana

The case tests how far police and prosecutors may go in policing online speech in Ghana, and how quickly a person held after an arrest must be put before a judge. For social media users in Accra, Techiman and elsewhere, it bears on where the line falls between offensive posts and criminal ones. The row also feeds a wider argument in Parliament between the Minority and the government over the even-handedness of state institutions.