President John Dramani Mahama has said that, as a leader, he does not mind being insulted or vilified as he has a crocodile skin.
According to John Mahama, he has a tough skin, so when people insult him, he does not mind.
President Mahama, however, stressed that he believes Ghana needs a broader conversation on how TikTok and other new media platforms should be regulated.
He disclosed that the government could simply instruct the police not to arrest people over anything they say, but questioned whether that would reflect the position Ghanaians wanted to adopt.
Speaking at a town hall meeting with the Ghanaian community in New York on Friday, September 25, President Mahama stated, “There is a new term that I call information integrity. The media has become democratised. Anybody with a mobile phone can disseminate information. There is a new medium called TikTok. And it’s not only Ghana where people are wondering what to do to regulate TikTok. Because in all countries all over the world, we are wondering what to do to make sure that we have information integrity even with TikTok”.
“Anybody who has a phone just puts it in front of him and just says whatever he likes. Once they put it out, it has an algorithm that shares it,” he said.
He added, “As a leader, I don’t mind being insulted. I have been insulted, I was vilified, and I was voted out of office, so for me, this skin is a crocodile skin. So if you insult me, I don’t mind. You insult me, I don’t mind, and indeed, I am doing what I can for my country and my continent. I am doing what I can for Ghana and Africa’.
“Definitely, a lot of these arrests, I don’t even know about them. I also hear about them in the media. Some of them have been tracked and arrested and all that. And sometimes, it worries me, because sometimes the reason for which the person has been arrested, really, they say, is because he insulted me,” he said.
Mahama said the challenge was determining where legitimate freedom of expression ended and conduct that required intervention, saying, “I can tell the IGP, we can go to Cabinet and say, let anybody insult anybody. Let’s leave it free for all. Don’t arrest anybody for anything they say. We can do that. But is that what we want?”
“So, let’s all decide what we want to do. So, that we either find a way of regulating it or we say, when it comes to free expression, anybody can say whatever he wants,” he said.
He further disclosed that the question of regulating new media should not be determined by government alone.
Mahama added, “What we should do is for the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) and the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) to bring all the stakeholders together and hold a workshop or a forum.
“Let’s all collectively take a decision on what we want to do with the new media. Should the police get involved, or shouldn’t they get involved? How do we regulate it? You come out and tell us,” he said.
Meanwhile, Former Defence Minister Dominic Nitiwul has asked why President John Mahama is pursuing a lengthy approach to curbing incendiary comments instead of simply asking US-based Ghanaian commentator Kevin Taylor to stop.
Nitiwul made this known in reaction to President Mahama issuing a directive to the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) and the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) to organise a national stakeholder engagement on hate speech, abusive language and other harmful content on social media and emerging digital platforms.
Speaking on TV3 on September 23, 2026, Dominic Nitiwul argued that the approach is a long route, calling on President Mahama and the government to call Kevin Taylor to stop making insulting comments and see whether others would not stop.
Nitiwul stressed that Ghana Jollof has maintained that she is responding to Kevin Taylor’s comments and would stop if he also stopped the insulting comments.
The former Defence Minister stated, “The two individuals who have led this charge over the last one year let me go back to the first individual, Kevin Taylor, who has led this charge over the last seven years, and then Ghana Jollof has entered into the fray, and others are unfortunately now copying over the last three months. They all say it’s because Kevin Taylor is doing the insulting; that’s why they are doing that. If Kevin Taylor stops it, they will all stop”.
“So instead of the president organising all this long way of doing things, why does he not ask Kevin Taylor to stop? Why can’t the government just ask Kevin Taylor to stop? …and see whether the others will stop, or they will not stop. It’s a simple thing,” he said.
Dominic Nitiwul further added, “Ghana Jollof says, I’m responding because they are not asking Kevin Taylor to stop. Kevin Taylor says that the president gave him the job to do, and so if Kevin Taylor stops today, I will stop. Why can’t Kevin Taylor be controlled? Why can’t he stop?”
He further cited Kevin Taylor’s return to Ghana and the government’s alleged protection of him.
Nitiwul added, “…the government cannot run away from Kevin Taylor because he came here; they gave him state protection; they made sure that he won his case in court, and he’s free doing that. I have been a victim of Kevin Taylor twice. A year ago, he took me on and insulted me head to toe; just about last week, he did the same thing ”.
The Former Defence Minister argued that the issue could be addressed without taking what he considered a longer route.
Watch the video below:
President @JDMahama on why he wants a stakeholders forum on social media and insults. He was speaking at a townhall meeting with the Ghanaian community in New York on Friday pic.twitter.com/FVo05PmI5D
— DailyGraphic GraphicOnline (@Graphicgh) September 26, 2026
@ghnow_ The sister of Nana Yaw has issued a strong warning to people allegedly spreading misinformation about his death. #GHNow #fyp ♬ original sound – GHnow
@ghnow_ Be very careful on the internet – Sister of Nana Yaw issues a strong warning #GHNow #fyp ♬ original sound – GHnow
