Section 208 of Act 29 must be repealed immediately — Samson Lardi calls out misapplication

Ghanaian media and legal personality Samson Lardy Anyenini has renewed calls for the immediate repeal of Section 208 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29).

He also urged amendments to Section 76 of the Electronic Communications Act, 2008 (Act 775), arguing that both provisions have been repeatedly misapplied by law enforcement to silence dissent and critical commentary.

In an opinion editorial shared on Monday, May 18, he said Section 208, which criminalises the publication of false news “likely to cause fear and alarm”, has outlived its usefulness and is now being used in ways that undermine constitutional freedoms.

He noted that despite legal education efforts over the years, police and prosecutors continue to rely on the provision in ways that exceed its intended scope.

“The provision has become a convenient weapon to silence dissent, leading to arbitrary arrests, prolonged detentions, and prosecutions that chill legitimate speech,” he stated.

The legal practitioner further argued that the persistence of such prosecutions reflects a systemic failure that cannot be resolved through interpretation alone.

“I have spent years engaging experts… to teach sound interpretation and application. Yet these efforts… have failed. The culture of abuse has proven resistant to correction. Education is no longer viable; repeal is the only remedy,” he noted.

Samson Lardi referenced the ongoing prosecution of New Patriotic Party (NPP) Bono Regional Chairman, Kwame Baffoe, known popularly as Abronye DC, as a clear illustration of what he described as misuse of the law.

He argued that charges of “offensive conduct” and “publication of false news” arising from alleged insults directed at a judge do not meet the threshold of Section 208.

According to him, such conduct, while offensive or defamatory, falls within civil defamation and not criminal publication of false news “likely to cause fear and alarm.”

Samson Lardi further supported proposals under the Misinformation, Disinformation, Hate Speech and Publication of Other Information (MDHI) Bill, 2025, which seeks to repeal Section 208 and amend Section 76 of Act 775.

However, he cautioned Parliament against replacing one vague offence regime with another under different terminology.

He stressed that speech regulation must be narrowly defined, proportionate, and aligned with constitutional protections under Article 21 of the 1992 Constitution and international standards.

Samson Lardi also criticised what he described as “executive silence” in the face of repeated abuse of the law, arguing that such silence enables continued misuse by law enforcement agencies.