Former Deputy Information Minister, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, has condemned the recent arrest and subsequent prosecution of journalists and citizens for publication of false news.
According to him, experiencing this phenomenon in the Akufo-Addo-led administration shows that “we are in serious trouble.”
Speaking on JoyNews’ AM Show on Tuesday, the aspiring MP for Abura Asebu Kwamankese said the country cannot criminalise speech.
He added that President Akufo-Addo would have been a culprit if this principle is applied to him before he was elected President.
“We cannot criminalise speech. People cannot go to jail because they said something that was untrue. If that principle was ever applied to President Akufo-Addo who is applying it now, he would not have been President. He would have ended up in jail because I know for a fact that on three or four occasions, he said absolutely false things.”
“One of the things was that he said President Mahama had printed diaries to the tune of 10million dollars. If this law was applied, he wouldn’t be President but be in jail.”
He cited the arrest of Power FM presenter, Oheneba Boamah; Accra FM presenter, Kwabena Bobie Ansah and ASEPA’s Mensah Thomspon, who have fallen foul of section 207, 208 of the Criminal Offenses Act.
“The case that sent Oheneba was initiated by the Attorney General. So there is no dispute. What he said related to the President and the President took exception and had his A-G file contempt charges against him which made him go to prison for 14 days.”
“If in this day and age, somebody can go to prison for two days, for saying something the President believes is untrue, then we are in serious trouble. The matter relating to Bobbie Ansah revolves around something he said about the First Lady and wife of the Vice President. In any serious jurisdiction, investigative bodies would have moved in to ascertain whether or not the First Lady and wife of the Vice President had abused their positions to do anything irregular.”
He added: “But in Ghana, we are actually targeting the journalist for potential imprisonment. ASEPA, what did he really say. He said the President’s relatives used the Presidential aircraft over Christmas. How is in the world does this raise a situation where you arraign him and a potential to imprison him?
The President himself, in the period where he was campaigning to be President, said many things I know to be false.”
GhanaFeed.com
