GHANA JOURNALISTS ASSOCIATION APPEALS TO PRESIDENT MAHAMA OVER ASSAULT OF JOURNALISTS

The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has appealed to President John Mahama to take a personal interest in cases of attacks against some journalists in the country.

The association said such an intervention would ensure the arrest and prosecution of suspects for their crimes.

“In making this appeal, we remind the President of the commitments he made to the media and the nation on July 7, 2024, at the Kempinski Gold Coast Hotel during a media engagement.

“On that occasion, I, on behalf of the GJA, asked President Mahama (then Presidential Candidate of the NDC) about his thoughts on the privatisation of the state-owned media and assault against media practitioners.

The President said he was against both instances and pledged to promote the interests of the media,” the association said, adding that “this is the time we expect the President to redeem his pledge.

“We shall continue to remind him of his assuring words. We hope he will not give us cause to believe those words were mere rhetoric,” it added.

The president of the GJA, Albert Kwabena Dwumfour, made the appeal at a press conference in Accra yesterday, where he gave an update on the Ahmed Suale murder case and others, including recent incidents of assault against some journalists and other critical national matters of concern.

Cases

He said while grappling with the attack on Ohemeng Tawiah of the Multimedia Group, as the first case of assault against journalists in 2025, the count increased to six when some others were also assaulted within a spate of one week in February. Four such attacks occurred in Kumasi, in the Ashanti Region, and two at Walewale, in the North East Region.

“It is very sad to note that in the Month of Love, when people were demonstrating love to their dear ones with red gifts, our colleagues who were in the line of duty were made to see red blood as a reward for serving Mother Ghana.

“It is also disheartening to note that just about 50 days into the second John Mahama Administration, we have witnessed seven cases of assault against journalists. This is unprecedented,” Mr Dwumfour said. In the Kumasi incident, he said four journalists were assaulted on February 11, 2025, while covering the election of the Ashanti Region representative on the Council of State.

“Unfortunately, no arrest or prosecution have been made.

The mind-boggling question is: If REGSEC cannot provide security in its own backyard, how can it provide security elsewhere?

This only sends worrying signals that the country is heading towards a state of anarchy.

It appears there is no law and order, and there is no security in the country.

That is most unfortunate,” he said.

In the Walewale case, he said both Alhassan Dokurugu of Asaase Radio and Tahiru Ibrahim of Zaa Multimedia were allegedly assaulted by some military personnel while covering an incident involving the setting ablaze of a bus at Nalerigu Junction.

“We call on the Ghana Police Service to bring the perpetrators to face justice. We also call on the Military High Command to investigate the incident and sanction the wayward military personnel,” Mr Dwumfour said.

Ahmed Suale, others

On Ahmed Suale and Latif Iddrisu’s issues, he said a meeting was held with the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Dr George Dampare, last Monday, and he (IGP) “gave me heart-warming assurances of dealing with the cases.” “While holding the assurances of the IGP in good faith, we remain faithful to our demands that if we don’t see or hear anything concrete from the police after the end of March 2025, we shall proceed to the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice to find justice,” he said. Touching on other national issues, Mr Dwumfour expressed concern about the high cost of locally-manufactured chocolate and entreated the Ghana Cocoa Board and Cocoa Processing Company to help in reducing the cost.