You Have Freedom Of Speech But Not Every Speech Is Free! - Kabila Cautions

CPP Acting General Secretary, James Kwabena Bomfeh, popularly called Kabilla has admonished the National Chairman of the People's National Convention (PNC) Bernard Mornah to know where his freedom of speech ends.

According to Kabilla, even though Bernard Mornah has the right to express his mind on a national issue, the execution of his speech should be guided by caution.

Bernard Mornah's Seditious Comments

Mr. Mornah, who is also a leader of the Inter-Pary Resistance Against New Voter's Register (IPRAN), reportedly made some comments that critics have described as ''treasonable''.

He is reported to have said the group will disrupt the new voters' registration exercise by the Electoral Commission and threatened to ''kill'' should the need arise.

Arrest PNC/IPRAN Leader

Following Bernard Mornah's comments, the Central Regional Minister, Kwamena Duncan and the General Secretary of the PNC, Atik Mohammed, called for his immediate arrest.

''A constitutional body with a clear mandate subject to the law and you have a Ghanaian speak to the entire country that if they go ahead, we will disrupt and we will kill one another . . . One Ghanaian tells all of us that let the constitutionally mandated body charged with the duty to compile a register to enable us exercise our franchise to select or elect those who will wish to govern our country; let somebody go ahead, they will disrupt the exercise. They will kill one another.

''If I were the Minister for National Security, straightaway, I will pick up this man. What he did yesterday amounted to a declaration of war...Bernard Mornah tells the rest of us that they will disrupt the registration programme and that they will kill one another...My goodness, is this how far these people want for us?'' Kwamena Duncan registered his displeasure."

Atik Mohammed also stressed that Mr. Mornah is not above the laws of the country and should not be left off the hook saying ''merely being the Chairman of a political party such as the PNC doesn't mean you can say any gibberish. It doesn't give you the licence to just say all kinds of things and I am on this occasion inviting the Police that they should invite Bernard Mornah...If you threaten mayhem, if you threaten violence, threat of violence and the visitation of violence on whoever are offences under the Criminal Offences Act. So, you cannot threaten mayhem against a State agency doing their work within the limits of the law''.

CID Invites Bernard Mornah

The Criminal Investigation Department of the Ghana Police Service invited Mr. Mornah on Tuesday, June 2, 2020 for allegedly saying “we’ll beat and kill each other” at the registration centres.

"The CID Headquarters is investigating a case in which you were alleged to have threatened to resist any attempt by the Electoral Commission (EC) to compile a new voter's register for the 2020 general election."

"You were also heard in a video interview to have threatened "that people who are already Ghanaians and already registered are going to be taken out of the register, don't you think confusion will come at the registration and if confusion come there, you think the EC staff will be safe, we will beat each other there, we will kill each other there if that is what the EC want to lead this nation to," the invitation letter dated May 28, 2020 and signed by Barima Tweneboah Sasraku III, a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) for the Director General of CID read.

Kill me, Jail me

Responding to the CID invite, Bernard Mornah told host AKwasi Aboagye on Neat FM's morning show 'Ghana Montie' that he will not retract his words and that he is “ready” to die.

He expressed no regrets about his utterance.

“I will say it in exactly the same way; what I said. If they [CID] want my life, I will give it to them freely. I will not be guarded and cease from saying what I feel will lead the country to peace and stability. They can kill me, they can jail me but that will not deter me from what I said. I will die but will still say it,” he stated.

Kabilla advises politicians

Addressing the issue on Peace FM's Wednesday edition of 'Kokrokoo', Kabila advised the PNC National Chairman and all political figures in the country to watch their tongue saying ''yes, we have a right to free speech but, in your free speech, not every utterance is free. No! We must be careful of that. You have a right to free speech but not everything you say is free of free. But in saying this, it doesn't mean I want to criminalize speeches. I don't want to but we, in positions of influence, we must speak with responsibility''.