GBA cannot gag Ghanaians – Kofi Jumah

Former Member of Parliament for Asokwa Constituency in the Ashanti Region, Maxwell Kofi Jumah has described the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) as “an apology of an institution,” adding, the Association cannot gag any citizen in this country.

According to Mr. Jumah, freedom of expression must be encouraged at all time. “I am an advocate of total freedom of speech, irrespective of the language used,” the former Kumasi mayor stated on Badwam on Adom TV Thursday, July 11, 2013.

He was reacting to comments allegedly made by Prof. Kwame Karikari, Executive Director for Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) and the defense put up by the GBA on contempt of court.

Prof. Kwame Karikari on Tuesday accused the two main political parties in Ghana - National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) - of constantly fueling “irresponsible animosity”.

Speaking at a forum on the law of contempt organised by research think-tank; Centre for Democratic Development in Accra on Tuesday July 9, 2013, the former Director General of Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) said, the “NDC and the NPP and their leaders consistently appear to be encouraging the use of the media to foment animosity and needless polarisation” in society.

But Mr. Kofi Jumah said the MFWA and the GBA should be in the defense of the media and the public at the same time.

He advised the two bodies to desist from imposing their own social values on others, adding that, if freedom of speech is taken from Ghanaians that will be the end of Ghana’s democracy.