GJA marks 70th milestone

The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) will today commemorate its 70th birthday anniversary at an event in Accra.

There will be the cutting of the anniversary cake and reflections on the history and relevance of the association by some distinguished personalities at the ceremony.

A statement issued and signed by the General Secretary of the GJA, Mr Kofi Yeboah, said the Chairman of the Ghana Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), Prof. H. Kwasi Prempeh, will be the guest speaker.

Other key speakers are former GJA President, Ambassador Kabral Blay-Amihere, the Chairman of the National Peace Council (NPC), Most Rev. Prof. Emmanuel Asante, and the first Ghanaian General Manager of the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Dr G.T. Anim.

Representatives of key partners of GJA will also deliver goodwill messages. They include the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA), Private Newspaper Publishers Association of Ghana (PRINPAG), UNESCO Ghana and the US Embassy in Accra.

The statement said the event which would be telecast live on GTV, Atinka TV, GHOne, TV3 and other broadcast networks would be chaired by Ambassador David Anaglatey, a former Ambassador to Togo and Director-General of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation.

Congratulations

It said a solidarity message from the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) congratulating the GJA on its 70th anniversary, said: “The GJA is a shining example – a journalists’ association with an unwavering commitment to standing up and speaking out in defence of journalists and journalism”.

The message added that from its successful struggle against the Criminal Libel and Sedition Law to the adoption this year of the Right to Information Law, the GJA had been at the forefront of protecting not only the country’s journalists, promoting the best in independent, ethical journalism but also in defending citizens’ rights to information.

The IFJ message said as the GJA celebrated such milestone, it needed that spirit and courage to continue to defend media freedom more than ever, adding that around the world, journalism was under attack, even in Ghana which enjoyed greater media freedom than all other countries in Africa.

History

Taking a look at the history of the GJA, the statement said it was established on August 15, 1949.

The association was established to promote high journalistic standards, media freedoms and welfare of journalists as well as defend journalists against abuse by state and non-state actors.