The attributes of culture of silence are not hazy. The evidence of how the culture played out in times past and how it impacted democracy and good governance then are retrievable for comparison and reflection.
The mission to create the impression however, that that the obnoxious culture exists today, erroneously and diabolically, is part of a grand scheme to festoon it around the neck of government for partisan ends.
The correlation between the former President and his party and the misplaced ‘Culture of silence’ project they appear to be sponsoring as they are doing the ‘fix it’ enterprise could not have been more evident than from the former President’s tweet to commemorate World Press Freedom Day. ‘I want to encourage President Nana Akufo-Addo and his close associates to seize the occasion to create an atmosphere that is more tolerant of criticism and devoid of intimidation in order for the media, CSOs and individuals to freely express themselves and contribute to national discourse’.
A tweet fraught with mischief such as the foregoing should not be originating from a former President.
So many people with varied interests are engaged in discoursing matters of national interest freely responsibly and otherwise. That is a feature of the Ghanaian situation today but we have all agreed that is the price of freedom of expression we have to live with.
It is paradoxical to associate President Akufo-Addo whose singular effort led to the expunging of the obnoxious Criminal Libel Law from our statute books with culture of silence.
We know culture of silence when we notice it. The culture of cacophony and irresponsibility which is what is prevailing is the reason why so many hired spinners can be engaged to attempt creating an ambience of culture of silence.
It is a manipulation of the mind geared towards inciting people against a government. It often leaves in its trail telltale narratives hinged upon absent premises.
It is designed to push government to react to provocations using some amenable persons on air to spread disinformation.
Fortunately none has succeeded in triggering an action consistent with culture of silence.
The culture which refers to a situation where dissenting voices or literature are descended upon by the government using both state power or thugs or the two simultaneously was what informed the then Justice Minister Akufo-Addo to fight successfully the Criminal Libel Law in 2001.
With no media practitioner or others in jail for expressing themselves the cacophony about a so-called culture of silence can only be a tendentious project.
There is cause to fret when our values of decency of language evaporate into thin air and senior citizens are not spared the lie-wrapped remarks of the youth via social media and the airwaves.
The P(NDC) perfected the art of silence of culture. The junta now NDC organised thugs to descend upon demonstrators against the prevailing culture of silence.
So what do we call the situation when Multimedia was forced to suspend Mr. Yankson of Joy FM for speaking against President Mahama somewhere in 2016? Was it culture of silence? The hypocrisy must stop!