The President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Albert Kwabena Dwumfour, has called on President John Mahama to urgently address the rising incidents of media attacks and brutalities.
He noted that despite the freedoms and rights guaranteed to the media under Ghana’s 1992 Constitution, recurring attacks on journalists are tarnishing the country’s international reputation.
Mr. Dwumfour urged the executive, legislature, judiciary, and civil society organizations to join the fight against these assaults.
Addressing a press conference in Accra, he highlighted the brutal attack on Ohemeng Tawiah of the Multimedia Group Limited by a mob of illegal small-scale miners operating in the Offin Shelter Belt Forest Reserve.
According to him, Tawiah, who was leading a Joy News team to cover a police operation against illegal miners, was nearly killed in the attack.
A Joy News report indicated that Tawiah sustained head and chest injuries, twisted fingers, and multiple cuts on his body after surviving a machete attack, which appeared to be an attempt to cut off his right leg.
“Colleagues, this is what happened to a journalist working in the interest of the public and Mother Ghana; a journalist striving to protect our natural resources; a journalist ensuring that children are not born with deformities due to environmental contamination; a journalist protecting public health from the effects of illegal mining activities. And yet, we have all remained silent on this matter,” Dwumfour stated.
He further referenced the assault on Erastus Asare Donkor, also of Multimedia Group, which remains unresolved with little effort from law enforcement agencies.
On the unresolved murder of investigative journalist Ahmed Suale, the GJA has given the government a two-month ultimatum, ending in March 2025, to ensure substantial progress in the case or face escalation to the ECOWAS Court of Justice and other international bodies.
“Another case that has baffled the nation and the international community over the years is the murder of investigative journalist Ahmed Suale. It is unfortunate and disappointing that six years after his death, no arrest has been made. What is even more disheartening is the lackadaisical police investigation.
“In February 2024, former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, revealed that his office had not received a prosecutable docket from the police five years after the incident. Just last week, Gomoa Central MP, Kwame Asare-Obeng, popularly known as A-Plus, claimed he had provided information to the police regarding the suspected killers of Suale but threatened to reveal the suspect’s name if the police failed to act,” Dwumfour recounted.
According to him, A-Plus’ comments have raised serious concerns about the willingness of the police to resolve the case.
Given the eroding public trust in the police regarding the investigation and prosecution of suspects in the murder of Ahmed Suale, the GJA has resolved to take decisive action, including seeking redress through international legal channels.
“We are giving the Ghana Police Service until the end of March 2025 to present concrete findings on the case. We urge the Inspector-General of Police, the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice-designate, and the President to take a keen interest in this case,” he stressed.
Dwumfour also warned that the GJA would escalate the case of Latif Iddrisu, formerly of Multimedia Group, to the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice if the police fail to provide substantial updates by the end of March 2025.
Iddrisu was reportedly assaulted by unidentified police officers at the headquarters of the Criminal Investigations Department while covering a demonstration by NDC supporters. The assault left him with a skull injury, and six years on, he continues to battle health complications.
“The police claim they cannot find evidence for prosecution and further assert that the CCTV at the crime scene was faulty on the day of the assault,” Dwumfour lamented.