Private legal practitioner Samson Lardy Anyenini has cautioned that although insults are generally not criminal offences under Ghanaian law, certain forms of abusive language can attract legal consequences, including imprisonment and substantial financial penalties.
He said people who use insults to make damaging allegations about others, issue threats of harm or death, or spread false information capable of causing fear and panic must be mindful of the legal implications of their statements.
Speaking during a Joy Prime dialogue on the topic ‘The Politics of Insults: Where Do We Draw the Line?’, Mr Anyenini explained that the legality of an insult depends on the nature of the statement and the circumstances in which it is made.
“Insults generally by our criminal laws are not crimes. But there could be a crime in an insult,” he said.
He warned that people should not assume that insulting another person gives them complete protection from prosecution or other legal action.
“So when you hear us lawyers say insult is not a crime, you have to be very careful what you’re dealing with because you could actually get into a crime,” he added.
Mr Anyenini explained that some insults could expose individuals to civil action for defamation, particularly when they involve allegations about a person’s health, family life, fertility or conduct that could damage their reputation.
He cited the use of HIV/AIDS and other stigmatised medical conditions as examples of subjects that could be used to humiliate or discredit someone.
The lawyer said making such allegations as a means of insulting another person could have legal consequences if the statements damage the person’s reputation.
“If you did that in an attempt to insult someone, if you did that, I mentioned, say HIV/AIDS, say questions of impotence, when you raise questions of infertility or infidelity, and you’re using that as your anchor of an insult, you could get yourself in a circumstance where, although it is not a crime, you can be called upon in a court of law to answer for defamation,” he said.
He added that a person found liable for defamation could be ordered to pay substantial damages to compensate for the harm caused.
“And you could be punished with hefty monetary awards for the defamation that you may have caused,” he said.
His comments highlight the distinction between an insult that is not, by itself, a criminal offence and a statement that may give rise to a defamation claim.
Mr Anyenini also warned that insults accompanied by threats could cross the line into criminal conduct.
He explained that threats of harm and threats to kill are treated differently under the law, with the latter carrying a more severe potential punishment.
“Then again, if you were spewing insults and decided that you would issue threats in the name of insults, threats of harm is a misdemeanour punished by up to three years in jail,” he said.
“Threats of death are a felony punished by up to 10 years in jail,” he added.
The lawyer urged the public to understand that describing threatening language as an insult does not necessarily protect the person making it from criminal liability.
His warning comes amid continuing public debate about abusive language in political discourse and the extent to which individuals should be held accountable for statements made against opponents.
Mr Anyenini further drew attention to Section 28 of Ghana’s Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29), which he said could have implications for people who make false claims and allegations.
He described some existing laws as repressive and called for a review of such provisions, while warning that people must understand the legal risks associated with publishing claims they cannot substantiate.
He illustrated his point with a hypothetical example involving allegations that medicine imported by the state for public health purposes was fake or intended to harm the public.
According to him, making such claims without evidence could expose the person responsible to legal action if the statements were established to be false and met the legal requirements for the relevant offence.
“If you said that maybe a particular medicine was fake, a particular medicine that the state has imported is administering for public health, you say it is fake or that it is intended to mutilate the human brain or something of the sort, you are clearly out of the way and you’ll be called upon to show the truthfulness of the statement,” he said.
He explained that where a false statement is published with the intention of causing public fear and panic, it could fall within the scope of the offence of publishing false news.
“For as long as you cannot show that it is true and it is shown that it is false, you would have committed that offence of public publication of false news with the intent to cause fear and panic in the society,” he said.