Election 2024: Tone down on insults, CHRAJ boss

The Commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Joseph Whittal, has called on Ghanaians to tone down on polarising narratives and hate speech ahead of the 2024 general election to preserve peace in the country. 

In an interview with Asaase News, the CHRAJ boss said, “If you speak badly about people, incite people against others, and create ethnic confusion between our very porous ethnic confederations in Ghana, the likelihood is that you can even bring about communal violence. And then you create a problem for all of us.”

“We need our peace, we want to enjoy our peace elections will come and go and so we should tone down the narrative of insults—polarising narratives—which can come in different [different] forms and the worst of it is that it’s not about the media alone and the political parties, now anybody can sit somewhere and tweet anything and it can go onto any platform,” Whittal said.

As the 2024 general election approaches, some Ghanaians have taken to social media and even traditional media to pass derogatory comments about others, particularly political figures and parties.

One of such cases is that of media personality, Captain Smart, who said on national television a few days ago that whoever votes for the NPP in the upcoming election is a beast. 

“The issues of rights here are basically freedom of expression, which the constitution of Ghana actually grants or guarantees to all of us but also enables that to be derogated from, in other words, the law enforcers can really limit the freedom if it will go too far to affect other people’’. 

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Henry Quartey has said anyone whose statements incite violence will face the law.

Speaking during an event at the police CID headquarters on Wednesday, 17 July 2024, Quartey said, “Very soon, under the false publication act, anybody who makes a threatening statement to incite violence before, during and after the elections, we will make sure the law deals with the person and a court of competent jurisdiction will work’.”

Reporting by Gemma Appiah in Accra

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