Ghana’s decision to repeal criminal libel laws marked the beginning of problems with malicious attacks on reputations, former Tamale Central MP Inusah Fuseini has argued.
Questioning the consequences of the repeal, Alhaji Fuseini said politicians removed the laws for political expediency and left victims to pursue civil remedies even where, in his view, a publication deliberately sought to damage them.
“That’s the beginning of the problems we are facing now,” he told Sena Nombo on Radio Gold.
His comments followed a question about concerns that existing speech offences could serve the same purposes as the repealed criminal libel provisions.
Fuseini responded by challenging the earlier decision itself. He argued that a person could intentionally malign another and then leave the victim with the burden of seeking redress through a civil lawsuit.
His criticism focused on whether civil proceedings provide an adequate response to deliberate reputational harm.
Ghana repealed its criminal libel and seditious laws through the Criminal Code (Repeal of Criminal Libel and Seditious Laws) (Amendment) Act, 2001, Act 602.
