Former Deputy Attorney-General, Joseph Dindiok Kpemka has called on free speech campaigners to hasten slowly in calling for the repeal of Sections 207, 208 of the Criminal Code, 1960 (Act 29).

According to him, this law, which some have described as anti-free speech, was enacted for a purpose, thus repealing it could lead to excesses that may pose danger to the nation.

Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile, Saturday, he explained that instead, what should be looked at is the troubling way in which the Ghana Police Service triggers this law.

“We should exercise caution and hasten slowly in repealing these laws because they were put there for a purpose. I think what we should rather be talking about is proper application of the law, and not in all circumstances and cases where the Police will trigger these sections, ” he said.

He noted that some of the recent cases being prosecuted for breaches of Sections 207 and 208 of the Criminal Code, could have been tried under civil procedure. However, this should not diminish the need to have these laws in the country’s Criminal Code.

“If you look at the circumstances of our immediate past, some of the cases I agree, quite frankly I agree that they should have been civil remedies. But there are some cases where people for example sit on radio and make certain outrageous comments that if care is not taken, the vulnerable or certain people who are ‘bigots’ in society may take the law into their own hands and we’ll end up having a situation on our hands that would disturb the public peace,” he stated.

He instead, advocated for a balance of freedom of speech with individual rights and freedoms and public interest.