GJA demands reconstitution of National Media Commission board
The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has called for the immediate reconstitution of the National Media Commission (NMC) Board to give impetus to media regulation and promotion of media freedom.
The association said the delays in inaugurating the NMC Board were inimical to media regulation and other issues on the practice of journalism in the country.
The President of GJA, Albert Kwabena Dwumfour, who made the call at a press briefing in Accra on Wednesday, said all constituents of the NMC must take a keen interest in the reconstitution of the board.
He added that five months after the tenure of the previous board has expired, the GJA had learnt that some of the institutions with representation on the commission had not presented their representatives.
While calling on such institutions to present their representatives to the commission as a matter of urgency, he underscored the need for the NMC to go ahead and swear into office those who were ready.
The press briefing touched on an array of issues concerning the safety and security of journalists, the impasse between the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and Media General, key national issues such as the fight against illegal mining and the conflict that has plagued Bawku.
Media attacks
Mr Dwumfour described as worrying the phenomenon of unwarranted attacks, harassment and threats on the lives of journalists by state institutions and political figures, stressing that such a development was an affront to media freedom in a constitutional democracy.
For instance, he said, the decision by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) to arrest a journalist with Wontumi TV, Gordon Asare Bediako, was unacceptable and would not be countenanced.
He questioned the locus of the OSP to arrest and detain the journalist, and said the GJA would go to any length to seek justice for its member.
"We have directed our legal team to head to court and seek judicial review on the matter. We will file an injunction application to restrain the OSP from any further action against Gordon Asare Bediako or any other journalist," he said.
NPP/Media General impasse
Touching on the impasse between the NPP and Media General, the GJA President called on both sides to cease fire and to seek middle ground in the interest of working together as partners to deepen the country’s constitutional democracy.
Mr Dwumfour, however, condemned the behaviour of the third National Vice-Chairman of the NPP, Alhaji Osman Masawudu, who pushed down the microphone of TV3 during a press briefing by the party recently.
He described the action as "reckless, reprehensible and regrettable", and called for an immediate retraction of any foul words used by the party official and an unqualified apology to that effect.
"Failure to do so will mean that the GJA will hold him responsible for any TV3 journalist that is attacked or threatened at any NPP event," he said.
Mr Dwumfour further called on the police to act decisively on the case which had been reported to it by Media General.
"On this particular matter that has been reported, we call on the police to immediately arrest Alhaji Masawudu.
The NPP as a political party should also dissociate itself from the third National Vice-Chairman and ask him to apologise, if they are not in support of his action," he stressed.
Pending issues
Touching on pending issues of attacks on journalists, he said the GJA was considering heading to the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice to seek justice for investigative journalist, Ahmed Suale, who was murdered under mysterious circumstances for investigative stories that exposed rot in the country’s football administration.
"We are still following the Ahmed Suale case keenly; some issues have not been clarified yet, and we call on the police to give periodic updates on this issue," he said.
The GJA President said it was disappointing that many years after the brutal attack on JoyNews’ journalist, Latif Iddrisu, at the police headquarters, the issue was still pending in court.
Galamsey fight
Mr Dwumfour commended the government for being committed to fighting the illegal mining menace, known popularly as galamsey.
He said the GJA would continue to rally the media in the country to strengthen the galamsey fight in the national interest.
While commending the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, for positive steps taken so far against galamsey, he called for more stringent action, including the revocation of the legislative instrument on mining in forest reserves, the L.I. 2462.
He underscored the need for the government to provide security for journalists who covered field reports on galamsey.
