Those who struggled to have the Criminal Libel Law repealed must be cringing over its subtle return.
We would not mince words in stating that the Criminal Libel Law’s subtle return is part of the reset agenda of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government. Its application in a garb of finesse by the police and a section of the bench has birthed a sense of foreboding among Ghanaians today. The purpose is to curb the rising frequency of opprobrium against prevailing and verifiable bad governance.
It is so pervasive that most entities such as the clergy, civil society organisations (CSOs) and others have been cowed into seeming submission under the authoritarian rule of the NDC.
Supporting the criminalisation of free speech also is the open licence to NDC serial callers to insult those who express diverse views distasteful to government. These also account for the silence of those who must be speaking against the undemocratic traits being exhibited by the government of the NDC today in the country.
If they were able to speak up yesterday but today unable to do so, it means they have either been compromised as some have really been or apprehensive of the repercussions of expressing divergent views.
Those who love their motherland must not be cowed into submission but must resist the oppressor’s rule.
Recall the number of persons who have already honoured police, Bureau of National Intelligence (BNI) and National Security apparatus invitations over expressions deemed to be anti-government and you would have a sense of how things are falling apart.
That we are lamenting the negative state of affairs a little under a year of the assumption of power of the NDC is an indication of how bad things have been and still declining.
To state that democracy is besieged is an understatement given the extent to which the powers of the state are being abused and recklessly so, as though transition is not real.
Many of the state security operatives given their age brackets and their limited access to the country’s history on dictatorship and juntas are unable to understand how their future is being compromised. They are being used as offensive tools in the unfolding dictatorship which would soon leave the scene at the end of its tenure.
Former President Nana Akufo-Addo as the then Attorney General has his name inscribed in the history of the country as the man who led the charge to give democracy an impetus when he expunged the outmoded Criminal Libel Law.
It would be interesting to find out how he is feeling today as free speech is being criminalised in a digitalised setting.
With seeming absolute power at the hands of the President and state security at his disposal, he can afford to have free speech trampled upon in varied forms.
From invitations by the BNI, National Security apparatus, Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Police Service under a reset agenda, those active on social media have been served sufficient notice that they would be hounded and dealt with when they exercise their right to free speech as permitted by the constitution.
The unholy alliance between the executive, state security agencies and a section of the bench as observed by the flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, in reaction to the bad times, is a reality which must not be ignored if we want to advance the cause of democracy.
That political power is perhaps one of the most transient of all in life should serve as lessons for those who foolishly think that they are invincible and so can abuse power without thinking about the fallouts which are lurking nearby. Life itself is transient, let alone its contents such as political power.