FREEDOM OF SPEECH: THE 1992 CONSTITUTION VS. CONVENTIONS
The fundamental rights and freedoms on speech and expression is explicitly enshrined in the 1992 Constitution of Ghana. This is clearly stipulated in the Chapter five (5) of the Constitution. Article 12 Clause (1) of the 1992 Constitution states that "all persons shall have the right to- (a) freedom of speech and expression, which shall include freedom of the press and other media; (b) freedom of thought, conscience and belief, which shall include academic freedom". In a more elaborative way in relation to the rights and freedoms of the operations of the media, Chapter 12 of the 1992 in details, defines the expressive powers of the media without any interference. These provisions have some similarities (if not the same) with Article 19 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, Article 13 of the American Convention on Human Rights and Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rig...