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The Ghana Bar Association (GBA) has called for the protection of constitutional rights of social media commentators and bail conditions for the latter that are neither punitive nor excessive.

The GBA President, Efua Ghartey, made the call on Saturday, during the opening of the GBA 2026/2027 Annual Conference in Ada.

GBA President urged investigative and prosecutive agencies to ensure that bail conditions imposed on persons charged are in line with Article 14 of the 1992 Constitution, which provides that bail shall be “reasonable, proportionate and consistent with the presumption of innocence”.

Mrs. Ghartey said the association had taken a firm stand on the issue of excessive bail conditions by passing a resolution on the subject during the first ever GBA Mid-year virtual conferencing on June 5, 2026.

The GBA President further stated that the bail condition imposed on the suspect should not be an impediment to a fair trial.

She announced the GBA’s intention to constitute a Human Rights Watch Committee to watch and ensure that the constitutional and human rights of members of the public, especially social commentators are enforced.

“In the event of the arrest of social commentators for issues pertaining to freedom of expression such as the arrest of some TikTokers, the Committee would be in a position to give the requisite legal aid to the arrested persons; therefore, the legal profession would have the opportunity to review the cases of the arrested persons,” she stated.

Mrs. Ghartey said the association’s stand on bails was consequent to the numerous arrests of social media influencers and commentators in Ghana for their comments on topical issues and the bail conditions imposed on them which she said were disproportionate.

According to her, the association stands by the ideals of protection and promotion of constitutional rights and rule of law.

The Bloggers Association of Ghana appreciated the GBA’s call for the setting up of the Human Rights Watch Committee, particularly to monitor the activities of social media influencers.

The Bloggers Association of Ghana noted the calls were in the wake of the arrest of Aminat Mahama, better known as Bawumia Ba, a TikTok personality for her comments on the social media platform on the President and First Lady.

It was reported that the arrested TikToker was released on bail of GH¢1 million, but her bail was later lowered to GH¢50,000 after her lawyers argued that the initial bail was unreasonably high and disproportionate to the charges.

Another two TikTok celebrities, “Fante Comedy” and “Akosua Jollof”, were arrested and released on bail of GH¢100,000 each for ridiculing the helicopter crash that killed eight government officials.

Fante Comedy was remanded to prison custody because she allegedly did not meet bail conditions.

Mrs. Ghartey, in her address, said the GBA would continue to strive to ensure that Ghana’s laws are enforced to provide a just and fair society.

“We shall not relent on our efforts to hold statutory and governmental bodies to the constitutional standards of our country for our common good,” she said.

The 2026/2027 Ghana Bar Association Annual Conference, themed 150 Years Ghana’s Legal Evolution: Transforming the Profession and Driving its Future with Industry, started on Saturday.

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