Free Speech: A Fragile Right

They say we have the right to free speech, but our voices are always being silenced. What’s the essence of giving citizens the right to free speech when they can’t even make use of it. I guess we can call it just a formality at this point.

The recent happenings in Ghana have really opened the eyes of Ghanaians to so many things. One thing most Ghanaians are known for is selling of their vote during every national election. The reason most people give for this action is the fact that all the political parties are the same so it’s best to receive money and give out your vote than not receive anything at all. So, this has become a normal thing in every election in Ghana be it national elections, src elections and what have you. There’s always someone driving the votes in one way or the other.

Now, we take money and give out our votes literally with no thought whatsoever and we still wonder a few years down the line why we are suffering in our own country. Imagine giving your vote to a political party and they win the elections. During their 4 years in office everything is a mess. The cedi depreciates drastically, no sort of national development, no job, inflation here and there and so much more . Then, in the next elections you still take money from them and still give them your vote. At this point, it’s safe to ask where your sense of reasoning is but that’s Ghana for you.

For the past week, Ghanaians have taken to demonstrating on the streets of the capital city every blessed day in our quest to get the government to put a stop to illegal mining(galamsey). These illegal mining activities have destroyed all our water bodies in the country over the years and I can tell you there’s literally no river or stream that is not polluted in the country. These water bodies are our major sources of drinking water, water for our household activities, water for growing our crops and many money. With our water bodies being polluted, we are not only faced with the unavailability of portable drinking water but also at the risk of disease such as kidney failures and cancer due to the nature of the chemicals used in these activities.

Imagine citizens protesting peacefully in the city for something that is of benefit to the whole country but what happens, the government sends out the police to arrest innocent citizens and keep in cells for over 48 hours with no food or water. Aside this, they are then taken to court where they receive a jail time for a number of weeks. Tell me this is not infringement of the rights of citizens. We are indirectly being silenced by a government who failed to play their part in keeping our country safe and now this is what we get for speaking up.

One thing I know about we Ghanaians is that we never back down, you can arrest the whole county and we will still fight for the right thing. But, until when will the people in power stop infringing on our rights for their selfishness. Once we are quiet, things get worse, when we speak up to, things get worse but eventually we hope that the right thing is being done. Personally, I would say freedom of speech is just a formality to make citizens feel they have rights but we all know who makes the moves.

all images belong to me.