{"id":119646,"date":"2026-05-25T12:02:49","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T12:02:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=119646"},"modified":"2026-05-25T12:02:49","modified_gmt":"2026-05-25T12:02:49","slug":"respect-rule-of-law-protect-rights-to-safeguard-democracy-abu-jinapor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=119646","title":{"rendered":"Respect rule of law, protect rights to safeguard democracy \u2014 Abu Jinapor"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>2 Minute, 13 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
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The Member of Parliament for Damongo in the Savannah Region, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has called for strict adherence to the rule of law and the protection of individual rights as essential safeguards for Ghana\u2019s democracy.<\/p>\n

According to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) lawmaker, democratic governance can only thrive when governments, regardless of political affiliation, respect the rights of citizens and refrain from using state institutions to target political opponents.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should never put ourselves in a position where we see wrong as right when we are in government, and right as wrong when we are in opposition,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Speaking in an interview with journalists, Mr Jinapor stressed that Ghana\u2019s democratic progress over the years had demonstrated the importance of upholding the law and protecting civil liberties.<\/p>\n

Protection of rights<\/h3>\n

The Ranking Member on Parliament\u2019s Foreign Affairs Committee noted that there had been instances under previous administrations where the rights of individuals appeared to have been violated, stressing that such actions should not be justified simply because a party is in power.<\/p>\n

He also raised concerns over what he described as the increasing use of the criminal justice system in matters that should ordinarily be addressed through civil legal processes.<\/p>\n

Mr Jinapor argued that cases involving alleged defamation should be pursued through the courts as civil matters rather than through criminal prosecution.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I grant you this interview, if I say something very horrible about a member of government, or even about the President, and I injure his reputation, what should happen is that I am condemned by right-thinking Ghanaians, and if the person feels defamed, the appropriate action is to go to court,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He criticised situations in which individuals are arrested, detained, or subjected to what he described as punitive bail conditions over comments made about political leaders.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not to be dragged through the criminal justice system, thrown into jail, and given onerous bail conditions, with bail being used as punishment,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n

Mr Jinapor urged political leaders and state institutions to avoid practices that undermine democratic freedoms, warning that political power is temporary.<\/p>\n

According to him, governments must guard against creating a cycle in which incoming administrations target members of previous governments or opposition figures.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is important that, in a democracy, the rule of law prevails, people\u2019s rights are respected, and we do not create this circus where, after a change of government, members of the previous administration or the opposition are harassed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Ghana\u2019s democratic progress<\/h3>\n

Mr Jinapor further stated that Ghana had made significant democratic gains over the years and must not allow partisan interests to erode those achievements.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr Jinapor explained that in cases of alleged defamation, aggrieved persons should seek redress in court through civil action rather than resorting to criminal prosecution.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I grant you this interview, if I say something very horrible about a member of the government, or even about the President, and I injure his reputation, what should happen is that<\/p>\n

I am condemned by right-thinking Ghanaians, and if the person feels defamed, the appropriate action is to go to court,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He criticised situations where individuals were arrested, detained or subjected to what he described as punitive bail conditions over comments made against political leaders.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not to be dragged by the criminal justice system and thrown into jail, and given onerous bail conditions, with bail used as punishment,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mr Jinapor urged political leaders and state institutions to discourage practices that undermined democratic freedoms, warning that political power was transient.<\/p>\n

He said governments must avoid creating a cycle where incoming administrations would target members of previous governments or opposition figures.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is important that in a democracy, the rule of law prevails, people\u2019s rights are respected, and we do not have this circus where, after a change of government, members of the previous administration or the opposition are harassed,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n

Ghana\u2019s democratic progress
\nMr Jinapor further said Ghana had made significant democratic progress over the years and must not allow partisan interests to erode those gains.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[613,18114,1883,117,10,9,7739],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-119646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-abu-jinapor","category-democarcy","category-national","category-news","category-politics","category-popular","category-rule-of-law"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=119646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119646\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=119646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=119646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=119646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}