Minister for Information Mr. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has entreated the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) to push the Police and the Judiciary to effectively tackle cases of attacks on journalists in the country.
The minister gave the advice following recent feud between the GJA and the National Media Commission (NMC) following their disagreements on how to prevent media attacks by unscrupulous individuals.
Acknowledging the critical roles of these two bodies in resolving matters concerning the safety and well-being of journalists, Mr. Oppong-Nkrumah noted that the NMC is limited in resolving unwarranted attacks on media practitioners.
The Police and the Judiciary, he pointed out, hold the key to resolving such cases.
Mr. Oppong Nkrumah therefore reiterated his call on the GJA to consistently hold them accountable to ensure that reported cases are thoroughly investigated and pursued through the legal system.
“We have to hold the police and the judiciary services consistently accountable for the cases that are reported to them and see how they follow through.
“We have to consistently hold them accountable so that they can’t come around and tell us that we didn’t hear about this and that there was no evidence of it.
“I believe that if we consistently hold them accountable, we will get to that point where no police command or office can play hanky-panky with these issues when they are reported”, Mr. Oppong Nkrumah who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ofoase/Ayirebi further advised.
GJA, NMC feud
GJA recently issued a directive, calling on its members to blacklist public officials who, without justification, attack journalists in the line of duty so as to serve as a deterrent to others.
However, the NMC through its chairman Yaw Boadu Ayefoafo believed such a move was “dysfunctional and unproductive”, and this has led to the feud between the two bodies.
While condemning assaults on journalists, the NMC chairman recommended legal remedy on the part of victims to fight such acts of impunity against them and not the option of blacklisting the perpetrators.
According to him, the directive by the GJA for the media to blacklist perpetrators of media attacks was not in the interest of the public.
“I still hold the position that while it is disheartening for journalists to be attacked violently, the unilateral resolve to blackout or boycott MPs is not the most productive reaction.
“We cannot fight impunity with impunity. I will support any effort to ensure that justice is done against all such deviant acts, rather than blackout or boycott. We must follow the rule of law and due process. Condemning such acts is in order but not the boycotts.
“While the call for boycott or blackout may be popular, it may not be productive or functional to the public interest”, the NMC chairman stated.
However, responding to the NMC Chairman’s comments, GJA President Albert Dwumfour, said he was disappointed regarding the position of Mr. Ayeboafo.
Describing the posture of the NMC Chair as unfortunate, Mr. Dwumfour explained that the GJA exhausted all relevant processes before issuing its directive.
“In every extraordinary situation, you take extraordinary decisions. We see this situation the media finds itself as abnormal, and in abnormal situations, you don’t need a dysfunctional or functional mind to treat abnormal situations.
“You deal with it abnormally, and that is the position of the GJA. I’m utterly shocked that no other person came here to use our platform to chastise us than the NMC Chair.
“What has the NMC done to promote and ensure the independence and freedom of the media in this country?.
“It is the responsibility of the NMC to provide the enabling environment for journalists to thrive. Often, we see the NMC sanctioning journalists and media houses to go and apologise or go and do this or that; when at all has the NMC sanctioned perpetrators of an attack on journalists?” he quizzed.
According to the GJA President, the decision to blacklists media attackers, was in the collective interest of Ghanaians to amplify voices against attacks on journalists so as to bring the perpetrators to book.
