How to kill a fly with an atomic bomb

Social media enables simple-minded users to exploit the ease of reaching a large audience of people locally, nationally, and internationally to insult others, especially those in high offices of a country. In real life, facing these representatives, they would be shy, hiding in the darkness of public life.

Camilla Alhassan, a Ghanaian TikToker, was sentenced to one year in prison yesterday (July 16, 2026). Handcuffed and under heavy police security, she was prominently brought to the Court for sentencing. She was charged with having insulted President John Dramani Mahama and making allegations such as having buried 32 cows to win the 2024 election.

Former German Vice-Chancellor Robert Harbeck (Die Grünen) was known for taking any defamation case (over 1000) to court. Critics online called him names, which he saw as an attack against him and his integrity. He did not accept that times have changed and that political discourse online has turned to smear campaigns, unlike in the olden days. He did not accept that a politician stands in the ring to fight for his convictions and goals, which come with scars and bruises. He wanted to be a cook in the kitchen but not be touched by the heat of the oven.

People online and in real life ask me to hang myself, jump into the River Rhine, label me as racist, sexist, Nazi, fool, even my eldest sister asked me to commit suicide and prays for me to die in Africa. Do I care? I laugh, have a good cup of tea with cream cake and enjoy life.

While Robert Harbeck got financial compensation for the cases won before German courts, Ghana decided to jail a woman for one year. The ways of political discourse in Germany and Ghana are very different due to differences in mentality and education. When prominent Ghanaian pastors defamed others in ministry, they were asked to report to the police and were set free shortly after. One bishop's son used the car of his father illegally, drove off at high speed, killing two innocent young ladies. Public outrage ended in no man's land.

Three weeks ago, I lectured Louis, 12 years, class 6: a state is described by the 3 S-theory; State border, State population and State power. I asked him whether a colony is a state. His answer: „No, the power lies in the hands of the colonial master.“

Is Ghana a state or a land? What a German 12-year-old boy knows about the principles of politics, why don't Ghanaian politicians know?