This paper confronts the epidemic of media violence in contemporary Ghanaian politics. When did insults and buffoonery replace the intellectual rigour and visionary leadership exemplified by Nkrumah? When did vitriol and public ridicule become qualifications for political office, lucrative salaries, and social status (Osei, 2017; Gyampo, 2021)? Ghana’s public arena, once defined by respect and collective purpose, is now a theatre for loudmouth opportunists who thrive on division and insult.
Rooted in African tradition, I reject this descent. Our customs demand respect, restraint, and the elevation of community over ego. The African adage is clear: a hunter who arms himself with rabid dogs sows his own destruction, just as fostering cycles of verbal aggression breeds reciprocal violence and instability (Mbiti, 1990; Gyekye, 1997). Another African adage delivers a hard lesson: when a lion is devouring your kin, do not plead with the beast—act decisively to save your brother, or you will surely be the next victim. This proverb underscores the necessity of swift, uncompromising action against threats to the collective good, warning that passivity invites destruction (Mbiti, 1990; Gyekye, 1997). Inaction in the face of danger is complicit. This is not folklore; it is a profound warning. Ubuntu teaches that harm to one is harm to all, and unchecked political insult and aggression will consume the nation (Tutu, 1999; Nussbaum, 2003). Ghana teeters on the brink. To ignore the media-fueled partisan conflagration is to invite national decay and the spectre of interethnic and internecine violence. Silence and complacency are complicity.
I open this paper with a stark contrast: Ghanaian politics in the immediate post-independence era under Kwame Nkrumah was not a playground for reckless or divisive rhetoric. Even amidst fierce opposition from Kofi Abrefa Busia and his allies, political debates never descended into insult or vulgarity (Austin, 1964; Rooney, 2007). Under the regimes of Generals Ignatius Kutu Acheampong and Frederick William Kwasi Akuffo, public discourse, though autocratic, remained disciplined and free from the gutter politics and condescension that now plague the nation (Boafo-Arthur, 2007). As media veteran Cameron Duodu observed, parliamentary debate reached its zenith during Nkrumah’s tenure, when national interests superseded personal ego (Duodu, 2011). Today’s descent into insult-laden exchanges is a disgraceful betrayal of this legacy.
As a public intellectual, my sole commitment is to present facts for rigorous debate and scrutiny—not to malign any leader or orchestrate partisan subterfuge. Let the historical record stand: the normalization of insults in Ghanaian politics began under the late Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings. Rawlings both practiced and institutionalized ad hominem attacks, setting a precedent for political discourse that rewarded personal denigration over substantive policy (Gyampo, 2021; Arthur, 2015). His condemnation of “babies with sharp teeth”—a reference to National Democratic Congress (NDC) youth who turned their vitriol against him and his wife, Nama Agyemang Konadu Rawlings, during the 2011 Sunyani congress—was a belated awakening to the culture he enabled (Graphic Online, 2018; Modern Ghana, 2011). The revolution, as history shows, inevitably devours its own.
In the tumultuous early years of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC), officials like Warrant Officer Isaac Frimpong weaponized rhetoric, openly declaring at a durbar at El-Wak Sports Stadium that citizens’ calls for free expression would be answered with “freedom of beating and assassination.” This threat, delivered in the presence of Rawlings and broadcast nationally, was conveniently omitted by state-controlled newspapers like the Ghana Times and Daily Graphic—a chilling testament to media censorship (Agyeman-Duah, 2008; Boafo-Arthur, 2007).
Rawlings, a self-styled populist Marxist turned capitalist, was notorious for inciting violence through abrasive language, branding critics as “enemies of the people,” “greedy bastards,” and “nation wreckers” (Gyampo, 2021; Oquaye, 2004). Such rhetoric was not mere bluster: it emboldened supporters to intimidate, silence, and even attack opponents, as seen in the infamous incidents of feces being thrown at dissenting media houses. Under Rawlings’s PNDC—and later the NDC—verbal aggression became a sanctioned tool of political intimidation, often serving as a prelude to outright violence and the suppression of dissent (Gyimah-Boadi, 1994; Graphic Online, 2018).
Rawlings’s rhetoric was relentlessly combative, often sacrificing statesmanship for partisan assault. His attacks on John Agyekum Kufuor’s administration, branding it as “the worst form of governance Ghana has ever seen,” were not grounded in evidence or legal action but in political theatre and self-righteous posturing (Gyampo, 2021; Arthur, 2015; Agyeman-Duah, 2008). Rawlings weaponized allegations of corruption and incompetence to elevate the NDC as paragons of virtue, while refusing to substantiate his claims through any formal legal mechanisms (Oquaye, 2004).
This tradition of incendiary politics persists. In September 2020, Isaac Adongo, MP for Bolgatanga Central constituency, inflamed Ghanaian discourse by labelling President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his cabinet’s Akyem members as the “Akyem Sakawa Boys”—accusing them, without evidence, of criminality and intent to plunder the nation (Joy News, 2020). Adongo’s refusal to apologize, and President John Dramani Mahama’s endorsement of this ethnic slur, not only insulted individuals but stereotyped an entire ethnic group, stoking the risk of ethnic conflict and undermining national cohesion (Gyampo, 2021; Daily Graphic, 2020). Such rhetoric is divisive, inflammatory, and antithetical to democratic norms.
In 2016, Felix Ofosu-Kwakye, now Government Spokesperson to President Mahama, publicly alleged that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer Nana Akufo-Addo was terminally ill with prostate cancer, kidney failure, and a coronary blockage, insinuating his imminent death and portraying a vote for him as a national risk (Daily Graphic, 2016; Gyampo, 2021). This was not an isolated incident. Journalists-for-hire such as Blessed Godsbrain Smart, Kevin Ekow Baidoo Taylor, and Nana Kwadwo Jantuah have unleashed unprecedented waves of vitriol, often targeting Akufo-Addo with unchecked ferocity (Joy News, 2022). The NDC leadership’s silence in the face of this relentless abuse amounts to tacit endorsement, normalizing insult as political currency.
In 2022, during the “Arise Ghana” protest, NDC Communications Officer Sammy Gyamfi—now the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board—publicly called for the death of President Nana Akufo-Addo, a move that sharply escalated political incitement and undermined democratic norms (Modern Ghana, 2022). This kind of rhetoric transcends mere offensiveness; it corrodes public discourse and erodes the democratic fabric of Ghana (Gyampo, 2021; Arthur, 2015). The relentless barrage of insults from NDC officials and their surrogates is unmatched in frequency and severity, demanding robust scholarly and civic condemnation.
The NPP is not blameless. While their use of abusive language is less prolific than the NDC’s, recent incidents—such as the vile online attacks from the “Ghana Jollof” account, allegedly linked to NPP sympathizers—are equally deplorable and must be condemned unequivocally (Daily Graphic, 2022; Joy News, 2022). It is critical to note that these outbursts often emerge as reactions to the sustained provocations from figures like Kevin Ekow Baidoo Taylor, whose relentless denigration of public figures has heightened polarization and incited retaliatory abuse (Gyampo, 2021). Both camps are complicit in the degradation of Ghanaian political discourse, and the cycle of insult and escalation must be broken for the sake of national cohesion and democratic integrity.
Recent calls from both political camps for a cessation of insults and a national dialogue are nothing but hollow gestures—too little, too late. Such appeals are futile, raising the critical question: why now and what prompted this sudden desire for civility after years of mutual abuse and incitement (Gyampo, 2021; Osei, 2017)? These performative overtures lack sincerity and only underscore the entrenched culture of political hypocrisy and rhetorical violence in Ghanaian politics.
In September 2026, President Mahama’s claim of “immunity” to insults—likening his resilience to the skin of a crocodile—was a regrettable and tone-deaf response, particularly from a national leader (JoyNews, 2026). As a scholar, I contend that public vilification of a president is not merely personal; it degrades his family, with First Lady Lordina Mahama unfairly subjected to unwarranted abuse despite her dignified restraint (Osei, 2017). The collateral damage extends to his children, party, and ultimately the nation, as Ghana’s political discourse devolves into a cesspool where insults are rewarded rather than condemned (Gyampo, 2021; Modern Ghana, 2026). Mahama’s assertion that insults “roll off” him is not bravery, but a disingenuous dismissal of the corrosive effect such rhetoric has on Ghana’s democratic fabric (Arthur, 2015). Once celebrated as a beacon of civility, Ghana now risks becoming a cautionary tale of political decay.
As the tide of insults threatens to overwhelm Ghana, the nation urgently needs robust anti-defamation and criminal libel laws that have real consequences—not statutes treated as partisan suggestions by the judiciary (Gyampo, 2021; Arthur, 2015). Effective legal frameworks must impose meaningful penalties, including imprisonment and substantial fines, for those who weaponize speech to malign others or incite violence (Amegatcher, 2020; Daily Graphic, 2023). No democratic society tolerates free speech as a license to call for the death of a sitting president or to vilify his family without cause; such conduct is criminalized across advanced democracies (BBC News, 2022). Until Ghana enforces laws that bind all citizens—regardless of status or location—to responsible expression and accountability, the country will remain vulnerable to the chaos and violence that unchecked rhetoric can unleash. One reckless statement could ignite catastrophe, a risk no responsible nation should accept. President Mahama must show decisive leadership to avert disaster; the time for complacency is over.
References
Agyeman-Duah, B. (2008). Ghana: Governance in the Fourth Republic. CODESRIA.
Amegatcher, Y. (2020). Defamation law and freedom of expression in Ghana: Striking a balance. Ghana Law Journal, 53, 101-119.
Arthur, J. (2015). Political corruption and public accountability in Ghana. African Journal of Public Affairs, 8(2), 34-48.
Austin, D. (1964). Politics in Ghana: 1946-1960. Oxford University Press.
BBC News. (2022, July 14). Free speech limits: When can you be prosecuted for incitement? https://www.bbc.com/news/world-61976999
Boafo-Arthur, K. (2007). Ghana: One Decade of the Liberal State. Zed Books.
Daily Graphic. (2022, August 10). Online abuse and the politics of insult in Ghana. https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/politics/online-abuse-and-the-politics-of-insult-in-ghana.html
Daily Graphic. (2020, September 5). Akufo-Addo condemns ‘Akyem Sakawa Boys’ tag; calls for restraint. https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/politics/akufo-addo-condemns-akyem-sakawa-boys-tag.html
Duodu, C. (2011, October 3). Ghana’s best parliamentary debates under Nkrumah. New African Magazine.
Daily Graphic. (2023, April 30). Calls for reform as defamation cases rise. https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/calls-for-reform-as-defamation-cases-rise.html
Graphic Online. (2018, June 4). Babies with sharp teeth—How Rawlings coined the term for NDC youth. https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/politics/babies-with-sharp-teeth-how-rawlings-coined-the-term-for-ndc-youth.html
Daily Graphic. (2016, November 1). Ofosu-Kwakye makes damning health claims against Akufo-Addo. https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/politics/ofosu-kwakye-makes-damning-health-claims-against-akufo-addo.html
Gyampo, R. (2021). Political leadership and the decline of public trust. Ghana Journal of Politics, 12, 88-104.
Gyekye, K. (1997). Tradition and Modernity: Philosophical Reflections on the African Experience. Oxford University Press.
Gyimah-Boadi, E. (1994). Ghana’s Unfinished Business. Journal of Democracy, 5(2), 78-91.
JoyNews. (2026, September 15). Mahama says insults don’t bother him: “I have crocodile skin.” https://www.myjoyonline.com/mahama-says-insults-dont-bother-him-i-have-crocodile-skin/
Joy News. (2022, September 14). Political insults escalate on social media platforms. https://www.myjoyonline.com/political-insults-escalate-on-social-media-platforms/
Joy News. (2020, September 3). Adongo stands by ‘Akyem Sakawa Boys’ comment. https://www.myjoyonline.com/adongo-stands-by-akyem-sakawa-boys-comment/
Joy News. (2022, July 1). Insult politics: Media personalities target Akufo-Addo. https://www.myjoyonline.com/insult-politics-media-personalities-target-akufo-addo/
Mbiti, J. S. (1990). African Religions and Philosophy (2nd ed.). Heinemann.
Modern Ghana. (2026, September 18). Ghana’s politics of insult: A dangerous new normal. https://www.modernghana.com/news/1315699/ghanas-politics-of-insult-a-dangerous-new-normal.html
Modern Ghana. (2022, June 29). Sammy Gyamfi calls for divine intervention at Arise Ghana protest. https://www.modernghana.com/news/1167997/sammy-gyamfi-calls-for-divine-intervention-at-arise-ghana-prot.html
Nussbaum, B. (2003). Ubuntu: Reflections of a South African on Our Common Humanity. Reflections, 4(4), 21-26.
Osei, M. (2017). Gender, media, and politics in Ghana: The case of female politicians. Journal of African Media Studies, 9(2), 265-279.
Oquaye, M. (2004). Politics in Ghana, 1982–1992: Rawlings, Revolution, and Populist Democracy. Tornado Publications.
Rooney, D. (2007). Kwame Nkrumah: Vision and Tragedy. Sub-Saharan Publishers.
Tutu, D. (1999). No Future Without Forgiveness. Random House.
