Ghana has recorded 14 arrests linked to false news and offensive speech in under 16 months — nearly double the total from the previous administration's entire eight-year tenure — according to the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), a regional press-freedom watchdog. The spike has ignited a fierce debate in one of West Africa's most stable democracies, with opposition figures warning of state-sponsored intimidation while government officials insist they are merely enforcing long-standing provisions of the Criminal Code and Electronic Communications Act in an era of unregulated social media. The controversy is sharpened by the fact that President John Mahama himself, while in opposition, described using state power against dissent as a "dangerous blueprint" for democracy — a charge his critics now level directly at his own administration.