Contempt versus Freedom of Expression

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• KB 12 years ago

  People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use

  People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use

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• KB 12 years ago

  Freedom of speech does not protect you from the consequences of saying stupid shit.

  Freedom of speech does not protect you from the consequences of saying stupid shit.

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• ' and Jesus wept ' 12 years ago

  There's too much insanity in our country especially coming from people who presume to be learned. Crack the whip on these miscreants.

  There's too much insanity in our country especially coming from people who presume to be learned. Crack the whip on these miscreants.

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• Kofi Adiyaah 12 years ago

  Can any of the 9 justices who jailed Ken name or point to the legal statute or the criminal code which Ken's speech violated and under which he was senctenced to jail.
  
  His sentence is illegal since it is not base on any le ...
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  Can any of the 9 justices who jailed Ken name or point to the legal statute or the criminal code which Ken's speech violated and under which he was senctenced to jail.
  
  His sentence is illegal since it is not base on any legal statute or criminal code.
  
  What is hapenning is, these rawlings era judges themselves have become the law where there is no stipulated law against Ken's speech.
  
  I am very much afraid of what Ghana has become. Now the supreme court itself no longer respects the law and where there is no law their own view personal views becomes the law.
  
  What a shame !!!!!!!!!!!!!

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• Brother 12 years ago

  The constitution is bigger than any code so please be advised Kofi. Any thing that ridicules, undermines, puts the court or magistrate, judge, lords or justices to disrepute is contempt. The court is the last line of the defe ...
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  The constitution is bigger than any code so please be advised Kofi. Any thing that ridicules, undermines, puts the court or magistrate, judge, lords or justices to disrepute is contempt. The court is the last line of the defense of every law and right. Make courts useless and see whether anyone, weak or strong will not get ran over. Freedom of speech does not include freedom of slander, libel and character assassination.

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• Kojo T 12 years ago

  You need to be jailed as you are part of the problem. As is said "little knowledge is dangerous"

  You need to be jailed as you are part of the problem. As is said "little knowledge is dangerous"

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• Kwobia ( Toronto ) 12 years ago

  With freedom of expression comes responsibilities to respect others,as well as national institutions.Treat others as you want to be treated.

  With freedom of expression comes responsibilities to respect others,as well as national institutions.Treat others as you want to be treated.

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• Kofi Ata, Cambridge, UK 12 years ago

  Gyan-Appenteng, first let me say that you were disingenous in your introduction and as a member of the National Media Commission, you should have know better. There is nothing whatsoever in this article for you to apologise i ...
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  Gyan-Appenteng, first let me say that you were disingenous in your introduction and as a member of the National Media Commission, you should have know better. There is nothing whatsoever in this article for you to apologise in case the contents were contemptuous. Are scaremongering?
  
  Having said that, I agree with you that some Ghanaians do not know how to put to effective use the freedoms enshrined in the 1992 Constitution. I do not think the excuse is neither the inability of the framers to have envisaged development in IT and its impact on the media nor the development and increase in media houses in Ghana. The problem is partly the indiscipline in Ghanaian society and the rest is failure of leadership of especially, institutions.
  
  The other challenge or problem is the NDC/NPP hegemony, which has resulted in every issue in Ghana being seen in the prism of NDC/NPP. Every institution including the media is aligned to either NDC or NPP (reality and perception).
  
  The National Media Commission is part of the problem by its failure to ensure that media houses are operating responsibly and being made accountable for their actions and omissions. I believe the NMC has been given a lifeline by the Supreme Court to put its house in order because had the NMC done its work effectively, perhaps, the SC would not have been compelled to jail a news editor and in so doing endanger freedom of expression and free press since the jailing has unfortunately sent out the wrong message of fear and not order.
  
  The NMC should be part of the solution and I believe that it will take advantage of this golden opportunity to take its constitutional duties seriously. Responsible media and free speech should not be enforced by the judiciary but first by the NMC. The Judiciary should be the last resort. There is too much irresponsibility without the media in Ghana and that is the problem and not freedom of expression and free press.

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• Kobena 12 years ago

  Kofi,
  When I read through Kwasi's article, the first thing that came into my mind was "It is all a result of the indiscipline in every facet of Ghanaian society." But then before I posted my comment, I saw yours and wanted t ...
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  Kofi,
  When I read through Kwasi's article, the first thing that came into my mind was "It is all a result of the indiscipline in every facet of Ghanaian society." But then before I posted my comment, I saw yours and wanted to read it first.
  
  The deep political divide in Ghana has really harmed our society. If I was foreign to Ghana and had never used the products of our education system (or not taught and refereed all the way to the highest level), the only conclusion I would draw by reading the comments on this forum would be "this country churns out educated idiots!"
  
  A lot of the time, when you listen to the radio commentators, half the things they say even in local languages is nonesensical, with very little reasoning. What is the point of politial parties encouraging able bodied young people to go from one radio station to another all day, spreading cheap propaganda? Who feeds these people? What future do they and their political sponsors think is there for these young people? Is anybody worried about this army of people who may never do one month of REAL work in their lives?
  
  Not surprisingly, because most of our youth are not enaaging their minds to productive things, when they have the opportunity to do anything useful, they messed it up. How come a school lever cannot write "two hudred and seventy and writes it twenty-seven zero?
  
  I have just watched Philip Addison's excuses about the "extra unsigned pink sheets." What does it really take anyone who has ever been through Class 6 to go through sheets of paper to placed signed ones on one side and unsigned ones on another?
  
  State institusions, CHRAJ, NMC, PURC, you name it, are not working because they have all been weakened by this daft "us and them" politics. I feel sorry of any decent Ghanaian who gets sucked into it.

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• GbagbladzaV 12 years ago

  It is the failure of NMC to purge the system and ensure sanity that has created the situation we find ourselves in. For now, the judiciary must work. Let NMC do its homework well. Mr Author, remove politics and bite the media ...
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  It is the failure of NMC to purge the system and ensure sanity that has created the situation we find ourselves in. For now, the judiciary must work. Let NMC do its homework well. Mr Author, remove politics and bite the media culprits. We are tired of the cacophony!!!!!!!!!

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• GbagbladzaV 12 years ago

  It appears they only drink tea and coffee at NMC!

  It appears they only drink tea and coffee at NMC!

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• The Sentinel 12 years ago

  Kofi Atta: I think Mr. Appenteng was just being too emotionally and professionally modest!
  
  The Sentinel

  Kofi Atta: I think Mr. Appenteng was just being too emotionally and professionally modest!
  
  The Sentinel

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• princewilly@ymail.com 12 years ago

  A New York man was forced to take a day off from work to appear for a minor traffic summons. He grew increasingly restless as he waited hour after endless hour for his case to be heard.
  When his name was called late in the a ...
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  A New York man was forced to take a day off from work to appear for a minor traffic summons. He grew increasingly restless as he waited hour after endless hour for his case to be heard.
  When his name was called late in the afternoon, he stood before the judge, only to hear that court would be adjourned for the next day and he would have to return the next day.
  
  "What for?" he snapped at the judge.
  
  His honor, equally irked by a tedious day and sharp query roared, "Twenty dollars contempt of court. That's why!"
  
  Then, noticing the man checking his wallet, the judge relented. "That's all right. You don't have to pay now."
  
  The man replied, "I'm just seeing if I have enough for two more words."

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