By Richard Ampadu-Ameyaw, PhD student, Ghana

Freedom of expression for me does not give one the right to insult those with whom they disagree, but rather to learn to agree to disagree. In my view democracy and its associated freedom of expression must be used to protect the moral values of society including the right to enforce the principle of equal rights and respect for people of diverse persuasions or backgrounds. This paper calls on the citizenry of Ghana, to look back to where we have come from as a nation, give thanks to God and use their energies to help build a better democratic country, worthy of emulation.

Not too long ago, if people have forgotten, military and civilian based governments took turns to rule Ghana with different 'paradigm shifts' of leadership and development mindsets. The military regimes represent periods when no one could openly express his/ her opinion in public and the country was quite but not peaceful per se. The culture of silence ruled the country. Thank God, the last of the military junta, led by Jerry John Rawlings in what people often refer to as the 'mother of all coup d'états' in Ghana which started in 1981, ended military regime in the country. The end of this military regime ushered in the fourth republic of Ghana, the first government of which was led by Rawlings as a civilian in 'military uniform'. Through the dint of hard work, vigilance and understanding of all Ghanaians, the fourth republic of Ghana which started in 1992, is still strong without military interventions, even though the reasons proffered for the military interventions, including the politics of disrespect, economic crisis and corruption among politicians and business men/women in the country still prevail somehow.

In spite of the usual bickering, Ghana can be said to have come to embrace democratic values of governance, which include the respect for views of political opponents. Like a child now developing teeth, the country is gradually and patiently trying to build its democratic structures. This is evident by the fact that for the fifth time running, the fourth republic of Ghana has seen peaceful and democratic elections, with three major power shifts through competitive multiparty elections. These efforts have helped strengthening the economy of the country by reducing overall poverty from about 52% in 1991/92 to 29% in 2005/06 (ISSER, 2007). Even though this has not translated yet into concrete processes of alleviating relative poverty in the country, the achievement so far is respectable. While it is understandable that the mere growth in democracy does not always guarantee the ascent of the poor and voiceless from exclusion or portrays a better performance of democratic practice, the government must be seen to be accountable to the people. The culture of politics of insult, lack of participation of the 'poor' and inequality, ubiquitous in the country today, make one wonder whether the successes chalked so far are really a break from the past or a test of time.

As a Christian, I believe that democracy is of God and must be built on good morals and respect for one another. Indulgence in the acts of hurling insults on one another, the elderly, young, opponents and leaders etc, portrays a breach of confidence in the ideals of democracy, and the creation of panic and fear in our communities. It is even more tragic to see leaders who claim to be Christians call their compatriots mongrel, sheepish, hypocrites and comparing them to notorious criminals. These go on in the very eyes of the Church ministers, who for some reason are unable to call their people to a halt. Politics of insult for me is un-Ghanaian and I don't think it keeps democracy buoyant as purported by some people. On the contrary it only creates sentiments, anarchy and genocides. While the politics of insults in Ghana are no recent phenomena, the recent spate of insults on the 'air waves' is rather unbecoming and embarrassing. The involvement of 'big men' in this rather unfortunate game on air makes it more terrifying, uninspiring, bland and unforgiving.

One of the greatest books on which most laws are framed, is the Bible. The Bible, on which true democracy in my view is based, plainly frowns on such culture of insults (Romans13:1; 1 Pet 2:13-14; Romans 13:2) among people made in the likeness of God. If the information found in these scriptures are anything to go by, then I ask why the insults? Don't you think it has roots in the attempt of one group trying to shut down the other and prevent the latter from taking its share of the national cake? If your heart is sick, it hurts and if it hurts badly, you try to let people know. In most cases it is through an explosion such as hurling insult on the perceived excluders (Ephesians 6:4). How do we curb this dangerous culture? Except we learn 'to love our neighbor as ourselves' and treat one another as equals. Diversities and differences will always exist, but rather than allowing them to destroy us, let us use them to build. We need to make peace with ourselves by godly principles. Always, remember that it is the positive and negative wires coming together which brings light into your room. As Nelson Mandela of South Africa said, 'if you have to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then you build partnership'. Think about that. I think by now you should know that the best way to build our country is through democracy and not 'demo crazy'. It is through democracy built on the principles of the use of instruments of egalitarianism founded on moral values and not necessarily majority rule. Let's get the fundamentals right: the politics of insult in the guise of freedom of expression in democracy have a destructive effect.