Ghanaian comedian, Waris, has expressed his displeasure at the restricted roles comedians have been playing in the political scene.

He made his statements out of the frustration created from the threats comedians receive when they joke about certain aspects of politics. The stand-up comedian noted that it was never so until some Ghanaians recently started threatening the freedom of speech of others.

According to him, comedians should be allowed total immunity to say anything they want to say since its all in the name of humor. He maintained that the public needs the humor to relieve the stress from their everyday lives.

While speaking in an exclusive video, he explained that words that come out of comedians should be treated as sarcastic comments as they are just meant to put smiles on people's faces, not take sides with any political party. He warned that comedians' words should not be used as weapons by the opposing parties as it could spell the end of comedy in Ghana. 

“When you say a joke about Mahama, it is not funny to NDC, likewise it wouldn’t be funny to NPP if it’s about Nana Addo. No one would even take the time to listen to realize if there is something important in it.”

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“People will feel it’s not funny because you have put their party on the line… if you don’t get a comedian who will say this then who will? A shoemaker or a pastor?” Comedian Waris queried.

Using himself as an example, he pointed out that he has many funny jokes about the state of Ghana's economy but can't say them for fear that the political parties will use them as ammunition against each other. 

“So now I have lots of jokes that I cannot say because if you do they will tag you as supporting a party.  If I will follow any party it has to be a huge sum that I can spend for about 40 years but then even if I support a party, can I joke about them? No.”

“No one should take it personally. We are in the political season so we will say the jokes but don’t say we the comedians who are citizens are supporting a party. If it doesn’t go well we all suffer together [SIC],” Waris concluded.