Freedom of speech a constant ‘ hot potato’

Madam,

Freedom is such an abstract concept that one wonders if it can ever be deduced to a single concept that is understood across the world, in the thousands of languages that we e ngage i n. Fr e e dom means different things to different people.

I n Af r i c a , t h e c o n v e r s a t i o n s a r o u n d f r e e d o ms a r e a r g u a b l y more intense than many parts of the world.

As a whole, the status of freedom on our continent is hardly consistent. There are certain things that citizens are allowed to do in one country that others in a neighbouring land can only dream of.

The status of freedoms in Africa i s extremely i ronic considering that we have piles of constitutions, policies and frameworks that promote and legalise the very same rights that citizens are constantly denied.

SPEECH

Freedom of speech is a constant ‘ hot potato’ in many of our countries and depending on the situation, defying the ‘ rules’ ranges from harassment to death. We have read countless stories about journalists who have been arrested, tortured and even killed for their desire to publish stories that give us a true picture of what is really going on.

A true people’s government is one that is accountable to the people. A government that embraces criticism and rejects handing out f ood parcels t o secure votes. A government t hat does not ki dnap dissenting individuals in the middle of the night to keep information from going to print. There is no freedom when you attend a peaceful demonstration to protest and the response from elected officials is tear gas and assault.

Former African leader Idi Amin i s a l l e g e d t o h a v e u t t e r e d t h i s now infamous quote, ‘ You have freedom of speech but I cannot guarantee your freedom after that speech’. I look around Africa and I realise that in many ways, Amin’s chilling quote reflects the stance of many African leaders. If you ever get the opportunity to lead a nation, please don’t get bitten by t he s ame power hungry and paranoid bug.

Chris F