The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has commended Ghanaians for their contributions towards nurturing the country’s democracy.
Speaking at a press conference to mark Constitution Day and address other issues, the President of the Association, Mr. Albert Dwumfuor, nonetheless reminded Ghanaians about the need to address the weaknesses identified in our democratic journey.
“The GJA wishes to take the opportunity on this important occasion to commend Ghanaians for contributing in many ways to help nurture and grow our democracy. As a nation, we always take pride in the international community’s reference to Ghana as a good example of democracy in Africa.
Whilst relishing that accolade, we wish to remind Ghanaians that there are many weaknesses in our democratic architecture that we need to fix. And this requires commitment, consensus and collaboration, even in the face of diversity of any description,” Mr Dwumfuor said.
Please find full statement below:
SPEECH DELIVERED BY ALBERT KWABENA DWUMFOUR, PRESIDENT OF THE GHANA JOURNALISTS ASSOCIATION, AT A NEWS CONFERENCE TO USHER IN THE NEW YEAR, HELD AT THE GHANA INTERNATIONAL PRESS CENTRE, ON JANUARY 8, 2024
Members of the National Executive of the GJA,
Colleague media practitioners,
Distinguished invited guests,
Ladies and gentlemen.
We have gone just eight days into 2024, and it is appropriate to extend seasonal greetings to you. On behalf of the National Executive of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), I wish you all a Happy New. We pray that this year will be better than last year and that the media fraternity in Ghana will enjoy the goodness of God.
Colleagues, 2024 is a packed year for the GJA, given the many important activities the Association and the media fraternity will be engaged in, both at the national and international levels. In order to plan the organization of these activities well, the National Executive went into Conclave before the end of last year, from 28th to 30th December. We would have done so in January this year. The purpose for inviting you here this afternoon, is to share some of these activities with you, outline our expectations for the year and also address some pertinent issues of concern.
Colleagues, yesterday was National Constitution Day and it is for that reason today has been declared a public holiday since the occasion fell on Sunday. The National Constitution Day is meant to celebrate our democratic governance under the Fourth Republic, and yesterday marked the 31st birthday of the Fourth Republic. The GJA wishes to take the opportunity on this important occasion to commend Ghanaians for contributing in many ways to help nurture and grow our democracy. As a nation, we always take pride in the international community’s reference to Ghana as a good example of democracy in Africa. Whilst relishing that accolade, we wish to remind Ghanaians that there are many weaknesses in our democratic architecture that we need to fix. And this requires commitment, consensus and collaboration, even in the face of diversity of any description.
Colleagues, the National Executive decided to organise this news conference today to coincide with the National Constitution Day because we believe some of the matters we seek to address touch on the life of our democracy. We want to draw attention to them so that collectively, we can find solutions that would safeguard our democracy. But before we delve into those matters, let me brief you about some of the key activities we have this year and plans towards their organization.
3rd African Media Convention
Colleagues, as you may know by now, Ghana will host the 3rd African Media Convention from 15th to 18th May, 2024. About 1000 participants from Ghana, Africa and across the world, including media practitioners, media partners and government officials, will converge in Accra for the biggest media gathering in Africa. The African Media Convention is under the auspices of the African Union (AU) and UNESCO.
Colleagues, in terms of preparation towards the organization of the Convention, I am happy to inform you that an 18-member Local Organising Committee (LOC) has been inaugurated. The LOC is under the joint leadership of the GJA and the Ministry of Information, with UNESCO as key leadership partner. I am also happy to inform you that the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has promised to open and close the Convention. That is not all; the President has also pledged financial support from the government for the organization of the event. We are most grateful to His Excellency The President and the government for such commitment. We are also grateful to the Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, for his total commitment to this cause. It is our firm conviction that at the end of it all, Ghana will pull out the best organization of the African Media Convention for many years to come. We count on the support of the media to achieve this goal.
World Press Freedom Day 2024
Before the African Media Convention, on 3rd May, 2024, the GJA will commemorate the World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) 2024. That will also be significant, given the fact that the attention of the world would be on Ghana by then, as all routes lead to Accra for the Convention. Normally, we mark the WPFD with a forum and flag-raising ceremony at the Ghana International Press Centre in Accra. However, when we met in Conclave, there were proposals to vary that norm. The proposals included the organization of the national commemoration of WFPD in one of the regional capitals. We are considering all the proposals on the table. The assurance we can give is that the occasion will be significant.
75th GJA Anniversary
Colleagues, this year, the GJA will be 75 years old, on 15th August. This is a milestone that needs to be celebrated well. In the coming days, we will announce some key steps for the organization of the anniversary. Ahead of that announcement, the hint I have for you is that the 75th anniversary celebration will be national in scope and character. Once again, we call for the support and collaboration of the media fraternity to make it a success.
28th GJA Media Awards
Colleagues, last year’s GJA Media Awards was very successful per the feedback we received from members and the general public. The 28th GJA Media Awards promises to be better than last year’s awards, particularly because it will be held as part of the 75th Anniversary activities. In view of that we have taken proactive steps to ensure high standards in the organization of the awards. Let me give you a gist of what we plan to do: first, we have scheduled a date in September for the awards; second, we will open entries in April and close same in June; third, we will give the awards vetting committee ample time to select the winners, and fourth, we will upgrade the online platform used for entries last year. You may notice that the proposed timelines I have outlined are earlier and more flexible than those of last year. That is so because we want to get things right.
Colleagues, one major eligibility criterion for the awards is membership in good standing. Invariably, some members wait until the opening of entries before they pay their dues in order to participate in the awards. This time, members who come at that late hour may find the door shut. We are currently compiling the list of members in good standing for 2023. Members have up to the 19th of this month (January) to pay their dues in full for 2023. The General Secretary has issued a memo to that effect. We expect all members to act within the opened window for payment of dues so that the door may not be shut on their entries for awards.
3rd Annual Dinner Night
Colleagues, since we instituted the Annual Dinner Night in 2022, after decoupling it from the Annual GJA Media Awards/Dinner Night, it has been very successful and become a rallying platform for our rank and file to socialize and unwind. We intend to continue the event but with some modifications to mark the 75th GJA Anniversary. Since the event is organised just before Christmas, we have decided to incorporate into the programme Nine Lessons and Carols, featuring heads of media houses, and Choral Festival, featuring singing groups from media houses. We hope that the 3rd GJA Dinner Night in December 2024 would be better than the previous ones. Considering the busy schedule for the year, the Annual Dinner Night is needed more than ever before for members to kill the stress we may encounter in the course of the year.
Election 2024
The media will be very busy this year largely because of the general elections. Just as we have dutifully acquitted ourselves from the beginning of the Fourth Republic, the media would continue to play their critical role that has helped to nurture the growth of our democracy. We have planned a number of initiatives, including capacity-building, safety and security training, to prepare our members for the coverage of the general elections. Currently, the GJA, in collaboration with the US Embassy in Accra, is running a capacity-building programme on election reporting for members across the country. The first in the series of this project took place in Ho in November 2023 for members in the Volta and Oti regions. This week, we will organise the second in the series of the project in Tamale for members in the northern part of the country.
Colleagues, we are exploring more opportunities with other institutions to organise similar training programmes for members. We will provide details in due course. We urge members who would benefit from such capacity-building programmes to let the knowledge acquired reflect in their election reportage.
Capacity-building
Colleagues, capacity-building is on the front burner in our scheme of things this year. Apart from election coverage, we are also exploring opportunities, both locally and internationally, to build the capacity of members in various beats of journalism. We appeal to our local and international partners to support us in this regard.
Sponsorship
Colleagues, these are great initiatives that would benefit members immensely. But the reality is that we can only execute them and do so successfully with the requisite funding. We are grateful to our sponsors who supported us to undertake our activities last year. But we want them to know that our call on them is louder this year, and we need them to respond promptly and come over to Macedonia to support the GJA. We call on other members of Corporate Ghana who are yet to come on board to show their clout. No amount is too small for us.
Media Responsibility
The GJA admonishes media practitioners across the country to exhibit high professional standards in the coverage of the electioneering. The stakes are very high. We need professionalism to address issues critically and calm tension. We should desist from doing things that may cause confusion and violence. We should not give our platforms to political extremists to foment trouble.
Attacks against journalists
Colleagues, last year, we recorded one of the highest number of attacks against journalists and media practitioners in recent memory. We had had a good cause to condemn those attacks in no uncertain terms and also warned of drastic measures against perpetrators of such evil acts. When we went into Conclave last December, I briefed members of the National Executive on intel I had received much earlier regarding plots by some political actors to attack journalists and media practitioners severely and rampantly this year. The agenda is to put fear in media practitioners and silence them so they cannot discharged their constitutional mandate. The intel suggests this is a strategy for Election 2024. While in Conclave, we agreed to highlight this issue at our maiden news conference today.
Cape Coast attack and matters arising
Colleagues, just last Thursday, four days into the year, an incident occurred in Cape Coast, the Central Regional capital, that clearly confirms the intel we had received. At the Central Regional vetting of parliamentary aspirants of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), held at the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) in Cape Coast, some thugs, numbering about 15 and wearing a branded T-shirt of Mavis Hawa Koomson, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Awutu-Senya East, pounced on David Kobbena, a morning show host of Cape FM, and beat him mercilessly without provocation. David Kobbena, aka Ohene Kwame David, was said to be sitting under a shed at the RCC. The thugs mistook him for another person they alleged had insulted the MP, who is also the Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture Development. On the basis of that mistaken identity, a man believed to be a police officer invited the unsuspecting David to a distance and sought to confirm that mistaken identity. David denied it and produced his media house ID Card as evidence to support his denial. But in the process of doing so, someone slapped him from behind and other thugs joined in the assault, beating him mercilessly.
Colleagues, we are informed that subsequently, the attention of Peter Mac Manu, a former national chairman of the NPP, who chaired the regional vetting committee, was drawn to the inciden and he sent Ghc1500 to be given to David to cater for his hospital bills. That fatherly gesture, although he was not connected to the incident, is very much appreciated.
Colleagues, initial investigations by the GJA confirm the incident. This is the height of impunity and we can no longer tolerate same. While condemning the attack on David unreservedly, we make the following demands:
- The NPP, at the regional and national levels, must investigate the matter immediately and identify the culprits.
- The NPP, at the regional and national levels, must sanction the perpetrators of the assault on David.
- The Ghana Police Service should investigate the incident immediately and speedily in order to prosecute the culprits.
- The Ghana Police Service investigate and identify the purported police officer who invited David before he was assaulted and bring him to face sanctions for unprofessional conduct.
We hereby serve notice that if by close of Friday, January 12, 2024, these demands have not been met, we shall advice ourselves accordingly.
Colleagues, it is unfortunate that we have begun the year on this barbaric note. But as we have already served notice, we shall fight back with every weapon we can marshal in our industry to repel the attacks on journalists as we go into Election 2024. And we can assure the evil plotters and doers that they cannot fight the media and win. We want to assure the media fraternity that we shall continue to defend their interests at all costs. This year, we shall continue our campaign against the obnoxious law used for criminal prosecution of free speech. We know they would be used as part of the strategy to silence the media but we shall resist them with all force.
That notwithstanding, we wish to advise journalists and media practitioners to be extremely vigilant whilst discharging their duties. We urge them to report any iota of threat to their person to the police for the necessary action to be taken.
Long live GJA!
Long live Ghana’s democracy!!
Long live Ghana!!!
Thank you for your kind attention.