Minority Leader in Parliament, Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin, has warned against the repeated justification of free speech abuses by successive governments.

He cautioned that while free speech is guaranteed, threats of violence, incitement, or calls for ethnic harm cannot be justified.

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Speaking on free speech and its limits in an interview with GTV Ghana and monitored by GhanaWeb on May 26, 2026, Afenyo-Markin stressed that constitutional freedoms are not absolute.

“I concede when I’m arguing that freedoms as enshrined in the Constitution are not absolute. It is the reason why the Constitution itself provides for remedies. So, when you say something against another person in a democracy, that person has a right to bring an action in law against you,” he explained.

“If you say somebody should harm the president, or somebody should harm the next person, that is not protected. That is borderline threatening,” he said.

Afenyo-Markin criticised the tendency to justify abuses by pointing to similar actions in the past, describing it as a dangerous cycle.

“If we continue to justify and say that, oh, it happened yesterday, it should continue. Then it will continue without end. Because at any point in time in the country’s life, there will be somebody who will be better, and we want to vent it,” he warned.

He urged state institutions, including the judiciary, to adopt internal reviews and supervision to ensure fairness and public confidence.

“I believe that as part of ensuring fairness and ensuring that our judges guide the process, regular reviews and ensuring that some of these excesses are also addressed would be of help,” he noted.

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Afenyo-Markin emphasised his stance against insults in politics but equally condemned excessive state actions aimed at curbing them.

“I would be the last to endorse insults. But I would be the first to condemn excesses aimed at addressing such insults,” he said.

VKB/VPO

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