Samuel Koku Anyidoho, the former Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has said President John Dramani Mahama must take some responsibility for the rise of political insults and abusive commentary in Ghana.
Mr Anyidoho highlighted US-based commentator Kevin Taylor, describing him as a major figure in what he described as a new trajectory of political commentary.
According to Anyidoho, Ghana has tolerated Kevin Taylor’s alleged insults for a long time without taking similar action, questioning why the issue had become a concern only when the Mahama government was coming under pressure.
Speaking on Kessben Maakye in Accra on September 28, 2026, Koku Anyidoho stated, “We cannot just sit down and condemn the wider phenomenon. Political actors must confront the individuals within their own circles who engage in abusive commentary”.
“What is the difference between somebody who shows his face and insults people and somebody who hides behind social media and does the same thing?” he asked.
Koku Anyidoho further called out President Mahama for his silence when Kevin Taylor insulted former President John Agyekum Kufuor, in which the controversial US-based commentator reportedly described him as lazy and linked the description to his use of a wheelchair.
“When you hear Kevin Taylor insult the former President, saying that he is lazy, that is why he is sitting in that wheelchair. President Mahama didn’t hear that one? He has been insulting Catholic bishops and almost everyone, but he was quiet,” Anyidoho said.
“Why should we make a distinction between somebody who shows his face and somebody who is anonymous when both are engaging in the same kind of abusive commentary?” Anyidoho asked.
Mr Anyidoho further argued, “If you can hire people to insult and malign others for your gain, then you must be ready for the repercussions,” he stated.
His comments follow President John Dramani Mahama’s recent remarks on Kevin Taylor, in which the President said he had never met or spoken with the US-based commentator.
Meanwhile, President John Dramani Mahama has 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.
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