The Minister of Information designate, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has reiterated his support for the fight against violence and harassment of journalists in the discharge of their duties.
According to him, even in the face of infractions and irresponsible journalism, “it is not an excuse to attack journalists” or harass them.
“They are legally provided avenues which give room for when you feel that you have been offended by the work of a journalist, to employ. But violence, harassment of journalists is unacceptable and cannot take place”.
He made this known while responding to questions before the vetting committee of Parliament on Thursday, February 18, 2021.
He indicated that the Ministry Of Information is working on establishing a ‘coordinated mechanism’ and a ‘media capacity enhancement program’, a framework dedicated to help protect journalists who may incur infractions through the discharge of their duties.
In recent times, some journalists have come under threat for their various roles in the coverage of the 2020 elections.
Some of these journalists who were reported to have received death threats with others being attacked include, freelance investigator, Manesseh Azure Awuni, ABN Broadcaster, Captain Smart, GTV Journalist Hayi Moomen and Despite Media Journalist Afia Pokua.
The murder of Ahmed Suale is still fresh in the minds of journalists and sympathizers as the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA), the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) among others continue to mount pressure on the government and state securities to find the killers of the investigative journalist.
Ghana dropped three places from its 27th position last year, on the latest World Press Freedom Index.
Now ranked 30 among 180 countries, its new position was largely attributed to insecurities and continues threat on the lives of media practitioners in their line of duty.
