Social commentator, Bernard Allotey Jacobs, has lauded Ghana Police for arresting some persons whose utterances are said to be defamatory.
Allotey Jacobs stated that what the Police is doing has nothing to do with suppression of freedom. He was of a strong view that the Police is rather sanitizing the society, so urged them on to continue its good works.
Mr. Jacobs believed the Police action will help discourage people from using filthy language and slander on other persons.
”I say the media landscape right now, it is about arrogance, pomposity and foolishness. I don’t think it is an attack on press freedom. It is an attack on foolishness, arrogance and pomposity that has to be dealt with. That should bring sanity into our system.”
Allotey Jacobs
Allotey Jacobs backed the Police stressing that there should be check and balances, hence advising those making defamatory statements to desist from it.
Using foul language
Also speaking, a Governance Lecturer at the Central University, Dr. Benjamin Otchere-Ankrah rebuked journalists and youth of today who have resorted to the use of foul languages in addressing national issues or responding to matters relating to the behavior of the leaders in the country.
Dr. Benjamin Otchere-Ankrah indicated that he was alarmed by the depravation that has characterized today’s generation to the extent that they boldly utter disparaging remarks against people who could pass to be their elders.
The lecturer questioned how a young person could insult the President with alacrity. He believed some children and youth of today have a mouth he described as “diarrhea mouth”.
“Some of them have their mouths leaking. The question is how many people will ever get the opportunity to become President in this country? When you listen to some radio stations and how they are derogating [President] Nana Addo or President Mahama, you ask yourself do these people have elders in their homes?”
Dr. Benjamin Otchere-Ankrah
Dr. Otchere-Ankrah advised the populace to watch their tongues. He also charged the elderly people in the society to take up the challenge of guiding the youth to become responsible and measured in their utterances.
“Someone once said freedom of speech I can guarantee but freedom after speech, I may not be able to. So, it’s not everything that must come out of your mouth.”
Dr. Benjamin Otchere-Ankrah
Journalist backs recent arrests
Meanwhile, the Editor of The National Forum newspaper, James Kwabena Bomfeh, has backed the Ghana Police for arresting some journalists and politicians in the country.
James Bomfeh slammed those cricitizing the Police for doing its job. To him, what the critics are doing is to dignify wrongdoing but cautioned them to desist from such.
”Let’s not dignify wrongdoers by associating them with their media practice. Because, in fact, if they are going to go by their ethics and the code of conduct of their media practice, they would not be doing those things”.
James Kwabena Bomfeh
Mr. Bomfeh warned the populace to censor their words when speaking since their utterances can lead them to trouble when found in a breach of law. He noted that, although there is freedom of speech, it is however incumbent on every person to exercise such freedom without defaming nor slandering another.
“Look, no matter how wrong a constitutional government does or performs, conversation should never entertain anything about something called coup d’état.”
James Kwabena Bomfeh
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