, re Article on Restriction of Freedom of Speech

The UK & Ireland Chapter of the National Democratic Congress strongly condemn and reject the contents of an irresponsible article published on Ghana web on the 19th February 2010 by NPP UK & Ireland Branch captioned, “NPP UK and Ireland condemns NDC’s Restriction of Freedom of Speech”

In the first instance, if the writer of the said article had honestly checked the facts leading to the arrest and detention of Nana Darkwa they would perhaps have come to the conclusion that the NPP political activist’s reckless comments to the effect that the former president Jerry Rawlings deliberately set fire to his house because he wanted to be re housed by the government were false and malicious.

Secondly, it was misleading for the NPP UK & Ireland to impute in the said article that the NDC government had a hand in Nana Darkwa’s brush with the law. And it was wrong in principle to assert that Nana Darkwa and his co panellists were merely “exercising their basic human rights to free speech under the constitution”

Thirdly, the arrest of Nana Darkwa by the security agencies and his subsequent detention on the orders of a competent court of law were born out of the fact that the NPP political activist admitted to the security agencies for making reckless comments on a public radio, which he knew were false and likely to disturb public peace in breach of section 208 of the 1960 Criminal Code of Ghana.

Fourthly, the reckless behaviour of the NPP caucus to boycott parliamentary proceedings in support of Nana Darkwa’s criminal behaviour was a blatant attempt to manipulate, coerce and intimidate the judiciary in order to satisfy their diabolic intentions, which characterised the 8 years that the NPP was in government.

The entire NPP hierarchy, including their surrogates in the UK & Ireland should rather bow their heads in shame for condoning such insolence and criminal behaviour.

The Constitution of Ghana guarantees every citizen of the land the right to freedom of speech. However, during the cause of exercising such rights, the citizen must know the limits of those rights and must not make statements that they know would fall outside those rights or else they will be deemed to be breaking the law. There are abundant testimonies to show that the government of President Mills values the basic human rights of every individual in the country. Since assumption of power in January 2009, President Mills’ government had not attempted in any way to place restrictions on the rights of any citizen to free speech.

It would be a futile exercise to educate NPP UK & Ireland on the difference between freedom of expression and reckless comments made with criminal intent and knowing that the statement being made is false. We would have thought that the NPP as a party that prides itself on the tenet of Rule of Law would have respected the decision of the courts in the case of the Republic of Ghana vs. Nana Darkwa. The NPP hierarchy on this occasion failed miserably and stooped so low when it came to the application of the law.

Is this not the NPP that smothered free speech and disregarded discerning views during Kufour’s 8 years in government? Have the NPP surrogates forgotten how E.T Mensah was stripped and put in BNI custody for over 50 hours for speaking his mind? Have the NPP forgotten how the former president Rawlings was invited for interview by the security agencies for expressing his views on national issues during a visit to Kumasi? The arrest and detention of the journalist, Jojo Quansah for writing about an impending reshuffle of the military hierarchy was a clear example of how the NPP suppressed freedom of speech.

Ghanaians are today witnessing the hypocritical standards of the NPP especially, when their party officials are caught entangled within the ambit of the law. The hullabaloo about Nana Darkwa’s arrest is nothing more than an attempt by the NPP to intimidate the judiciary, the security agencies and the ruling government in order to push through their diabolic political agenda. The NDC UK & Ireland Chapter are not going to guess about these motives. However, we can confidently say that the NPP must be factually, substantively wrong about their major motives if they and their surrogates in the UK & Ireland think they can make the country ungovernable by using unconventional, dubious and diabolic tactics to frustrate the work of the government, the security agencies and the judiciary. The NPP knows justice is coming, and they know that one day the full truth will come out and there will be no hiding for their 8 years of looting the nation’s coffers. No amount of intimidation of the judiciary or the security agencies would prevent the government of President John Evans Atta Mills from fulfilling the Better Ghana Agenda mandate given to him by the electorates. Until then, the NDC UK & Ireland Chapter will fight alongside all well meaning Ghanaians to protect and respect the tenets of our constitution in order to make our nation great and strong.

Alex Seshie-Vanderpuije Public Relations Officer NDC UK & Ireland Chapter