When Freedom of Speech Becomes Expensive

For a few weeks now, there have been raging debates on the state of freedom of speech and the culture of satire in Ghana. Many of those debates, however, are politically discussed on national television and radio. And even other Ghanaians other than the politicians, as usual, also found a way to wrap the debate in party colors to show off their pride in the superiority of what they believe in on social media. But that’s fine.

Let’s take a moment and examine the origin of these debates and whether they are valid. It started with the arrests of some social media individuals who were believed to have made unsavory remarks or posts. For instance, Baba Armando, a known NPP member, allegedly generated images of the president and some of his appointees in rainbow colors aka LGBTQ colors. Clearly, someone up top in power didn’t take a liking to it, and the police too found the image too colorful, so he was arrested. The arrest opened the door to the debate on whether it is actually an offense to create or generate such an image. In his defense, he claims it’s just a political satire (probably without a disclaimer) but the police think otherwise.

As expected, in the drama series at the grand political arena in Ghana, the minority, the NPP, weighed in swiftly to throw their weight of support behind Baba Armando. For all intents and purposes, they never miss the opportunity to explain to Ghanaians what the NDC is doing wrong. And guess what, press conference number 600 was held by them.

As a matter of fact, they can’t be blamed for hosting their favorite event in opposition, especially with such a begging opportunity staring at them. It was too good an opportunity to miss, as all major opposition parties play by the same book when out of power and play by a different book when they sit on the throne of power. I will come back to this phrase later in the article.

Satire In A Growing Democracy

Ghana is still a growing democracy. The foundation is there alright, but you could just tell these politicians and leadership in general sometimes let their ego and emotions take the lead. The culture of satire, like in the case of Baba, which I clearly believe it was, is still grossly misunderstood and misinterpreted most of the time. In the United States, for instance, Trump could have half of the population arrested for stuff like Baba’s image as they flood the internet every minute. Go to X, Instagram, Reddit, Facebook, or any other social media platform and you could most likely see a distorted caricature of Trump or a mocking video in your feed. Some Americans posted and reposted, the fun LEGO videos by the Iranians mocking Trump during the war between Iran and the US. Take also, comedians like Trevor Noah for example, he could mimic Trump’s voice (read “I know” in Trump’s voice) almost perfectly and make jokes about him. That’s satire. Shows like The Daily Show would not exist for their use of parody, exaggeration, and deadpan. Also, a publication like The Onion, the Holy Grail of published satire would not exist for their use of absurdism, pure exaggeration, deadpan, and “false news.” That is a democracy with deeper roots, and the art of satire is very much accepted as it is.

Meanwhile, in Ghana, the art of satire could still very well burst a politician’s belly and hell would rain down on the satirist, or for the lack of another better word, the culprit. Imagine a Ghanaian satirist writing: “To solve the unemployment crisis, let the government sell parliamentary seats to the highest bidder—oh wait, they already do.” That line could cost them their freedom for a while based on some past and recent events of someone not liking it. Meanwhile, The Onion prints ‘Congress Announces New Bill Declaring All Americans Legally Dead’ and gets a Pulitzer nomination.

What Satire Actually Is, and What It Is Not

Now, let’s review what satire is. Satire is the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose human folly or the ills of society. It comes in different forms, but two prominent ones are Horatian and Juvenalian satires. A Horatian satire employs wit and humor to expose folly, such as the “Suicide Taxi” satire published by The Brewed Satire. However, a Juvenalian satire, such as the “leadership happened to them” piece about the stampede that occurred at the Elwak stadium last year, takes a more serious tone with no prisoners taken. A perfect example of a Juvenal satire is “A Modest Proposal” by Jonathan Swift. In the aforementioned essay, he coldly suggests that, impoverished Irish parents should sell their children as food to the rich. Well, the good news is, this was not a literal essay but rather a satire in which Swift uses deadpan exaggeration to attack: British exploitation of Ireland (treating Irish people like economic livestock), the indifference of the wealthy toward poverty, and the heartless political theories that reduce humans to calculations. Swift became a cult hero in Ireland for this and was not charged with causing fear and panic. Now let’s replicate this in Ghana and see….

Satires are unapologetic and are meant to reveal and not conceal, they are meant to elevate and not suppress. Any form that is meant to demean, destroy, or sabotage anyone is not satire. That’s intentional foolery, and completely asinine. Recently, another TikTok user was arrested for allegedly threatening the president of Ghana and his family, and also inciting others to follow suit. If true or found guilty, this can’t be garbed in freedom of speech or funny me, satire. This is outright stupidity and should be condemned as such. Satires are not just for politicians, they are for society, me, and you the reader. If the cap fits you, a satire will put it fittingly on your head. However, satires are not independent of freedom of speech. Satires are opinions that need freedom of speech to flourish. And freedom of speech should be the fundamental right of every citizen regardless of gender, tribe, class, or political ideology.

Not All Gloom Yet, But Pray For Their Good Mood

To be fair, it’s not all doom and gloom yet in the landscape of freedom of speech in Ghana. Many opinions and satires are still churned out without identical consequences as described earlier. The legendary satirist, Kweku Sintim-Misa (KSM) has criticized presidents from Rawlings to Mahama openly for decades, once performing with Rawlings in the front row. “I threw a jab and he laughed. I gave an uppercut, and he laughed. That’s when I knew I could go all the way.” He remains free and vocal. Jimmy Aglah, through his Republic of Uncommon Sense, regularly publishes political satire targeting government officials, from ministers who measure development by ribbon length to the selective justice of security agencies, yet has faced no state arrest for his writing. The Brewed Satire publishes weekly within this same climate and has yet to suffer such a fate. But that is not a legal standard. That is a mood―one that determines who is offended by his own interpretation, and who the offender is or where he may belong. And moods change without warning. That is why isolated incidents of unjustifiable arrests are so dangerous, not because they happen often, but because they could happen to anyone, at any time, depending entirely on who wakes up offended. And when the mood turns, it breeds intolerance, the intolerance breeds silence, the silence breeds anger, and the anger breeds anarchy.”

The Playbooks Swap

I watched Joy News’ “Newsfile” show on Saturday, where Inusah Fuseini, a member of the ruling NDC, vehemently defended the arrest of Abronye D.C, another NPP member. Abronye was allegedly arrested for saying that, a certain judge isn’t a judge but a politician masquerading as a judge―that is according to discussions on the show. I understand Abronye has a foul mouth sometimes, but states don’t give penalties for these kinds of fouls. Never! Every prison would be full by now. He caused no fear or panic, something Mr. Fuseini could not justify when pushed by the host of the show. In my opinion, at best, it should be the said judge vs Abronye, and not the state vs him. But at least, we witnessed press conference number 601.

This brings me back to my earlier phrase about politicians having a different playbook in opposition and an entirely different one when in power. The sitting president, John Mahama, wrote an epistle to the former one, Nana Akuffo-Addo in 2022, on the decaying nature of freedom of speech at the time. He cited similar incidents of arrests of social media individuals for their opinions. Yet today, we have members of his party on national television singing the praises of the same actions they once opposed, and the man himself, is dead silent.

In conclusion, yes, the debate about freedom of speech is solidly valid. What did not make much sense was which statements caused fear and panic and which did not. In the above-stated incidents, only one of them could have caused fear and panic yet all three were arrested. So the question now is, what is fear and panic as defined by the laws, and what statements, could be deemed as causing such? Are the rainbow colours and sign of disrespect or just a mocking image? Whatever may be the case, satire, opinions and critiques will continue to be an integral part of our society. They will continue to flow in different shapes and sizes on issues of national interest. The real issue is, who gets arrested, and who doesn’t.

The Brewed Satire.

Disclaimer: Article is well and truly exaggerated for a comedic effect. Thanks for your attention to this important matter. TBS.

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