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Claim: Samuel Bright Acquah, a Ghanaian judge hearing a case against an opposition politician, quoted Robert Mugabe as saying, “I can assure you freedom of speech but cannot assure you freedom after speech.”
Verdict: False! DUBAWA’s research showed that the quote was attributed to former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. The ex-Ugandan leader reportedly said, “There is freedom of speech, but I cannot guarantee freedom after speech.”
Full Text
Samuel Bright Acquah, a Ghanaian judge hearing a case against an opposition politician, quoted Robert Mugabe as saying, “I can assure you freedom of speech, but I cannot assure you freedom after speech.”
The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP)’s Bono Regional Chairman, Kwame Baffoe, popularly known as Abronye, has been arraigned in court on charges of offensive conduct conducive to the breach of the peace and the publication of false news.
The court remanded Abronye once again on Sept. 12, 2025, because police investigations into his case are still ongoing. This was after he dismissed a bail application moved by Abronye’s lawyers.
In his ruling on the bail application, the judge attributed the quote to the ex-Zimbabwean leader, Robert Mugabe, on page 9 of the 10-page ruling.
“The late President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe once said, ‘I can assure you of freedom of speech but cannot assure you of freedom after speech.” He was reminding us that no freedom is absolute but goes with restrictions,” the judge said in the much-quoted decision.
The country’s lower court judges’ decision has gone viral, drawing criticism from Ghanaians here, here, and here.
DUBAWA decided to probe the claim as part of its campaign against misinformation and disinformation in Ghana.
Verification
DUBAWA’s investigation showed that the quote was not made by the ex-Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, as the judge in Ghana alleged.
Findings of DUBAWA’s Google keyword search revealed multiple attributions of the quote to Uganda’s former President Idi Amin, not Robert Mugabe.
Multiple sources here, here, and here quote the ex-Ugandan leader as saying, “There is freedom of speech, but I cannot guarantee freedom after speech.”
Also, see here, here, here, here, and here for attributions of the quote to Idi Amin.
The former military ruler of Uganda served as the leader of the East African country between 1971 and 1979.
He is said to have made the statement during his maiden address to the Ugandan people.
Pressreader wrote, “Former African leader Idi Amin is alleged to have uttered this now infamous quote, ‘You have freedom of speech but I cannot guarantee your freedom after that speech.” I look around Africa and realise that in many ways, Amin’s chilling quote reflects the stance of many African leaders.”
Conclusion
Multiple sources have attributed the infamous freedom of speech quote to Uganda’s Idi Amin, not Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe.
