Antwi-Danso: Bring back Criminal Libel Law before Ghana is plunged into war

Vladimir Antwi-Danso

A lecturer at the Legon Centre for International Affairs is advocating a return to the regime of criminal libel law before the country is plunged into war.

Vladimir Antwi Danso is worried at the growing insanity on the country's airwaves, in the print media, and blames politicians and journalists for it.

He told Joy News' Dzifa Bampoh if stringent measures are not taken and a possible return to the criminal libel regime not considered, scenes in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Rwanda is not far away from Ghana.

The Criminal Libel Law was taken off the statutes books in 2001 by the Kufuor-led administration to deepen media freedom and ensure public accountability.

Ten years on, Ghana's media landscape is touted as one of the most independent media regimes in the African sub-region but it has not been without its own challenges.

The media has lately been saturated with cacophonic materials, insults and unsubstantiated allegations against key personalities in the country.

This, Antwi Danso believes is unacceptable and described it as a flagrant abuse of the media freedom.

He said the journalists together with politicians are fanning war in the country.

According to him, the media is helping to denigrate the presidency, with the leader of the opposition New Patriotic Party Nana Akufo-Addo, who coincidentally played a role in the repeal of the law, not spared from the insults and unsubstantiated allegations.

Vladimir Antwi-Danso said the media has failed in playing its role as gatekeepers and in shaping of public opinion.

He accused politicians of exploiting the gullibility of the Ghanaian and have used the media as their conduit.

Nevertheless, in place of the Criminal Libel Law, persons against who libelous comments are made can pursue legal action and bring perpetrators to book.

But Mr. Antwi-Danso said that option is too cumbersome and not too many people are ready to explore it.

He said the time to control the media, not necessarily by the politician, but by stringent laws is now.

This he noted will instill a modicum of sanity, discipline and help to maintain peace in the country.

But the Chairman of the National Media Commission Kabral Blay-Amihere said there is no going back to the Criminal Libel Law.

He conceded that the concerns being raised by Antwi-Danso are legitimate but insisted other alternative measures can be pursued to restore sanity in the media than a return to the libel law regime.

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Story by Nathan Gadugah/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana