At a recent event, former President John Dramani Mahama stood before a crowd, unfazed by the harsh words often flung his way. With a smile, he described his resilience, joking, “This skin is crocodile skin.” The audience erupted in applause, clearly moved by his candor.
Mahama, reflecting on his years in office and the scrutiny that came with it, said he had been insulted, vilified, and even voted out. Yet none of it, he insisted, could shake his commitment to his country: “I don’t mind the insults. I am focused on doing what is right for Ghana and Africa.”
The conversation then turned to the world of TikTok and new media. Mahama acknowledged the power, and problems, of online speech. He had no issue with critics who showed their faces and owned their words, but he worried about those who hid behind anonymity to spread hate. He called on groups like the Ghana Journalists Association and the Media Foundation for West Africa to gather stakeholders and chart a way forward: “Let’s all collectively take a decision on what we want to do with the new media.”
Mahama warned, however, that regulating online expression was a delicate matter. He urged caution, saying, “Sometimes the police can go to the extreme, and you never know where to stop once you start arresting.” It was time, he argued, for Ghana to decide: regulate online speech, or let the principle of free expression stand.
His remarks echoed an earlier chapter in his political journey. In 2015, in the face of strikes and demonstrations, Mahama had famously declared he had developed “dead goat syndrome”, immune to threats and criticism. That phrase, born of frustration during mass labour unrest, became a symbol of his thick skin.
Through it all, Mahama’s message remained clear: insults would not deter him. His focus, he said, would always be on serving Ghana and Africa, crocodile skin and all.
Source: Apexnewsgh.com