UniMAC Law Lecturer Calls for Review of Sentencing in Speech-Related Offences
A senior law lecturer at the University of Media, Arts and Communication (UniMAC), Zakaria Tanko Musah, has called for Ghana to review how it sentences speech-related offences following the recent jailing of TikToker Camilla Alhassan.
Musah said while Ghana’s Constitution guarantees freedom of expression, the right is not absolute and must be exercised within the limits of the law.
He made the remarks after an Accra Circuit Court sentenced Camilla Alhassan to one year in prison with hard labour for offensive conduct after she admitted to sharing false claims about President John Dramani Mahama on TikTok.
According to Musah, although the police and the courts acted within the law, imprisonment should not always be the preferred punishment for speech-related offences.
He proposed alternative penalties such as community service or suspended sentences and called for clear sentencing guidelines to ensure punishments are fair and proportionate.
The legal scholar also urged a review of Section 208 of the Criminal Offences Act, which criminalises the publication of false news, questioning whether the law remains suitable in Ghana’s modern constitutional democracy.
Musah further called for the consistent application of the law, saying equal enforcement would strengthen public confidence in the country’s justice system.
