Lest We Forget: The Repeal Of The Criminal Libel Law

It has been ten years since the New Patriotic Party (NPP) led government presented a bill to parliament to cause the repeal of the Criminal Libel and Sedition Law. We of the Nana Addo for President (NAFOP) 2012 Movement wish to use this opportunity to congratulate all journalist of the Republic of Ghana and also to show appreciation to our mentor, Ayebida Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who as Minister of Justice and Attorney-General, led this process. The Criminal Libel and Sedition Law was used by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) led Government to cause the arrest and detention of a number of Ghanaian Journalist. Persons like Messrs Kweku Baako Jnr then of the Guide newspaper, Haruna Atta then of The Statesman newspaper, Eben Quarcoo, Kofi Coomson and the late Tommy Thompson, were arrested, prosecuted and jailed under this law. This law was used to stifle press freedom and the right to free speech. Despite the 1992 Constitution enshrining free speech, the NDC government went ahead to jail these journalists. Not only were journalists imprisoned, some media houses including the Crusading Guide and Free Press were shit-bombed. These shit bombing were praised by the then President, Fl. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings, when he stated that the weapon of the Journalist was the pen and theirs was the shit-bomb. In the 2000 campaign, while the NPP promised to repeal this Law, the then Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Hon. Dr. Obed Asamoah emphatically stated that, that law would be repealed over his dead body! On assumption of office of the NPP Government, led by the Gentle Giant Kuffour, Ayebida Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo as Minister of Justice and Attorney General went to Parliament and caused the repeal of that Law. Today, we mark its tenth anniversary. NAFOP wishes to say �Ayekoo� to all media persons for standing firm. However, NAFOP wishes to say that it is rather appalled by the way some journalists are handling this new found freedom. Today, the air waves and print media have become avenues for insult. The Palaver News Paper and its cohorts like the Democrat, the Lens, etc, have gained notoriety for publishing unprintable insults. Such news papers have used their medium to insult everyone who thinks differently from them. Ayebida Nana Akufo-Addo, Her Ladyship Mrs. Georgina Wood, The Chief Justice, Madam Afenyi Dadzie, Mr. Kweku Baako, Randy Abbey and a host of others have suffered all kinds of insults and calumny from these newspapers! It seems that the freedom so given by the repeal of the Act has opened the Pandora box and all manner of persons are parading under the guise of being journalist to rain insults on decent citizens just to please their pay masters. As we recount all these happenings within the media fraternity, we wish on the other hand to say to say �Well Done�! to descent papers like the Crusading Guide, Gye Nyame Concord, Accra Daily Mail, Daily Guide and others. We wish to request of them to continue to give to the Ghanaian readers the balanced and best of news-reporting for their consumption. In recent times, under the NDC Government led by the self-acclaimed Asomdwehene, many persons who have sought to express themselves freely, have been hauled by the police to court under the charge of � causing fear and panic� an outmoded and long-forgotten law (s. 208 of the Criminal Offences Act). We wish to challenge the Atta Mills led NDC government to equally cause the repeal of this Law and any other law that is inimical to the growth of free expression in Ghana. Nana Addo Dankwa, a man who believes in the rule of law, free expression and the Ghanaian did it in 2001 and we challenge Atta Mills and his team to do likewise. The Atta Mills-led NDC Government feeling uncomfortable with the repeal of the Criminal Libel and Sedition Law, and wanting to go back to the days where journalist and persons who freely expressed themselves were cast into prison cells, collected this law that has been redundant, got it dusted and started applying it to stifle the free expression Nana Addo led the Kuffour administration to bring to the media front. We again challenge President Mills to, as a matter of urgency, lead the repeal of this law that has been used to charge Nana Dakwa, Alexander Adu Gyamfi (High Priest), etc. We also wish to call on the National Media Commission (NMC) to cause to be investigated a tape allegedly containing the voice of the Deputy Minister of Information, Baba Jamal, making attempts to bribe journalist in the Upper East Region. We are monitoring closely. We wish to reiterate our belief in the Ghanaian media and want to call on them to weed out the charlatans amongst them and continue to offer unbiased information to the Ghanaian. We thank you all for your support. Long Live NPP Long Live NAFOP Long Live the Ghanaian Journalist Long Live Ghana Signed