Prof. Kwaku Azar criticizes jail sentence for TikToker, calls for repeal of colonial-era speech laws
ACCRA —
Constitutional law scholar Professor Stephen Kwaku Asare, known as “Kwaku Azar,” has condemned the conviction and one-year prison sentence handed to a TikToker for insulting the President, arguing that criminal prosecution of offensive speech undermines constitutional democracy.
In a Facebook post, Prof. Azar described the comments in question as “vulgar, irresponsible, and false” and said they “add nothing of value to public discourse.” However, he said the central issue is whether such speech should attract criminal sanctions.
“A democracy cannot prosecute its way to civility. Criminal courts should not become arbiters of taste, manners, or political discourse,” he wrote.
“Broad shoulders, not broad criminal statutes”
Prof. Azar argued that public officials, particularly the President, must expect “criticism, ridicule, exaggeration, and even offensive speech as part of the price of holding public office.” He noted that the appropriate response to bad speech is “more speech, public condemnation, and social accountability, not imprisonment,” adding that “public office demands broad shoulders, not broad criminal statutes.”
“Freedom of expression is tested not by the speech we applaud, but by the speech we detest,” he stated.
Call to address collapse of civic standards
The professor said Ghana’s deeper problem is the “collapse of civic standards” that should discourage incivility, blaming political parties, sections of the media, social media platforms, religious leaders, and citizens for rewarding outrage and sensationalism over substance.
He said the remedy lies with society, not the courts, and called for “ostracism” as the sanction for those who degrade public discourse: “Stop sharing their content. Stop inviting them onto public platforms. Stop rewarding outrage with attention, influence, and money.”
Recommendations for reform
Prof. Azar outlined several steps to promote a “more civil Republic”:
- Schools, families and institutions: Teach constitutional citizenship, media literacy, and ethics of respectful disagreement. Celebrate reason over sensationalism.
- Political parties: Refuse to recruit, celebrate, or promote individuals whose profile is built on “abuse, vulgarity, or calculated disrespect.”
- Parliament: Review and repeal colonial-era offences that criminalize expression rather than genuine harm, to align laws with the 1992 Constitution.
- Law enforcement: Retrain police to focus on corruption, violent crime, and cybercrime instead of “policing insults or wounded egos.”
- Judiciary: Give primacy to constitutional guarantees of freedom of expression and reserve criminal sanctions for conduct the Constitution clearly permits the State to punish.
“The State should punish crime. Society should punish incivility. Political parties should refuse to reward it. The Constitution should protect the freedom to speak, even when society condemns what is said,” Prof. Azar concluded.
The comments come amid public debate over the use of criminal law to address online speech targeting public officials.
About The Author
