The Accra High Court has ordered the remand of New Patriotic Party (NPP) Bono Regional Chairman, Kwame Baffoe, popularly known as Abronye, into police custody after he failed to comply with a key bail condition requiring him to surrender his passport.

The court’s decision followed a hearing on Thursday in which Abronye’s lawyers sought a variation of his bail conditions, arguing that the passport was needed for travel to the United Kingdom for academic purposes.

Abronye is standing trial on charges of offensive conduct conducive to the breach of peace and publication of false news, stemming from alleged derogatory remarks made against a circuit court judge.

He was absent when the case was called on June 4.

Lead counsel Daniel Martey Addo told the court that his client had secured admission to a UK institution and had already submitted his travel documents to the UK High Commission in preparation for travel scheduled for June 14. He further argued that the passport had been submitted on May 2, before the court granted bail on May 21.

However, the prosecution, led by Principal State Attorney Joshua Sackey, opposed the application, insisting that the accused had failed to comply with the explicit bail requirement to surrender his passport after being granted bail.

He argued that records from the UK High Commission indicated the passport was submitted on May 25, several days after the bail ruling, in clear violation of the court’s order.

After hearing arguments from both sides, the presiding judge, Justice Halima El-Alawa Abdul-Basit, ruled that Abronye’s failure to deposit his passport constituted a disregard for the authority of the court.

She subsequently dismissed the application for variation of bail conditions and ordered that the NPP regional chairman be remanded into police custody until he complies with the bail requirement by surrendering his passport.