Kufuor says Criminal Libel Law to be repealed

President John Agyekum Kufuor said on Thursday that the Criminal Libel Law will be repealed as a mark of confidence in a responsible media.

"Set free, I have no doubt our media will play their honourable role with a heightened sense of responsibility," he said in his maiden state of the nation address to Parliament.

"We shall expand the boundaries of freedom of speech by repealing that law which criminalises speech and expression," he said.

The Ghana Journalists Association has fought for several years for the repeal of the law, which, it said, is outmoded. Several journalists had been jailed under the previous government.

President Kufuor said his government does not expect that Ghanaians would suddenly be transformed into saints, and there would still be miscreants in the country.

He said the police, who are charged with upholding law and order, would be strengthened to protect the ordinary citizen and bring wrongdoers to book.

The president said already, the police have stepped up their patrols in the cities, bringing crime and armed robberies under greater control.