Freedom Did Not Start In 2001 - Mahama

"Rawlings Has Been The Most Insulted Prez in The History Of Ghana"

Hon. John Mahama, the NDC Director of Communications and Member of Parliament for Bole-Bamboi has stated that Ghanaians were free under the NDC administration and were at liberty to speak their minds.

He refuted claims recently made on Metro Tv by Andrews Awuni, the Press Secretary of the President, that one of the big achievements of the NPP was the institutionalization of the freedom of expression.

"When people speak as if freedom of expression started in 2001, they can only be attempting to deliberately mislead the public. Before 2001, people were free to speak their minds; newspapers carried all sorts of stories against the NDC government and nobody was brutalized for expressing their opinions," John Mahama stated.

The popular and charismatic former Communications Minister was being interviewed by Charles Sam on Metro Tv's Good Evening Ghana last Tuesday. He emphasized that President Rawlings has been the most vilified president in the history of Ghana.

"In spite of that, he showed so much tolerance and endured the insolence and belligerence of the opposition NPP and their partners in the media. Hon Mahama added that often, he himself was at the receiving end of insults when he took part in radio discussion programs at the time.

"As the Minister of Communications, I was often at various radio stations defending the position of government. People used to phone in to sometimes insult me," he said. Hon. John Mahama explained that the level of freedom has been evolving since the nation went multi party in 1992. "Our freedom derives from the 1992 Constitution and is not some special benefit from the current government," he reiterated.

He pointed out that it was erroneous to claim that it is all rosy under the Kufuor led government. He contended that there are still many individuals and civil society organizations that continue to operate in fear and will not want to be heard speaking out against the wrongdoings of the current government. "They do not want to be seen as enemies of the government. Anyone who is critical of the NPP government is regarded as an enemy of the regime."

He wondered whether NPP has any real legacy to boast of when its officials continue to cite freedom of speech as its major achievement. "It is a constitutionally mandated obligation for any government to abide by. So don't come and boast about freedom of expression when you are citing your achievements."