I prefer ‘noisy, scandalous’ media to ‘sycophancy’ - Akufo-Addo

President Nana Akufo Addo has said he’s not disappointed in playing a key role in repealing the Criminal Libel and Seditious Laws from Ghana’s statutes book.

According to him, even though he’s been one of the greatest victims of the irresponsible section of the media who have created an industry from spewing falsehood and outright fabrications against his person, he has no regret one bit in his role in seeing the discredited law scrapped off.

The Kufuor Administration of which President Akufo Addo was its first Attorney General in 2001, ensured Parliament repealed the law, following the passage of the Criminal Code (Repeal of the Criminal and Seditious Laws (Amendment Bill), Act 2001.

A memorandum on the bill presented to the House by the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, stated, “the purpose of the bill is to fulfil the promise of repeal, and thereby demonstrate the Kufuor government’s determination to make good its promise to the nation”.

It said the repeal is evidence of the sincerity of the New Patriotic Party government’s commitment to the process of democratic consolidation in the country.

The memorandum further stated that the repeal of these laws, which were enacted during the colonial period to frustrate the freedom of the people and perpetuate servitude, should have been done at the time the country gained independence.

Speaking at his maiden engagement with the media in Accra, President Akufo Addo stated that the repeal of the Criminal Libel Law has inspired the Ghanaian media to be one of the freest and most vibrant on the entire continent of Africa if not the world.

“I will say I must prefer the noisy, boisterous and sometimes scandalous media of today to the monotonous praise singing sycophantic one of yesteryears. The Ghanaian media has in fact enriched the nation's governance by its persistent curiosity and investigative skills.”