According to her, a broadcast law is urgently needed to address attacks on journalists and media practitioners, following the World Press Freedom’s recent Index report, which ranks Ghana in 50th position out of 180 countries.

She said, “There are no regulations in place governing the broadcast space, and we have been talking about this for many years.”

Prof. Gadzekpo added, “The lack of a broadcast law should have been addressed at the beginning when the airwaves were liberalised.”

She was speaking on Joy News’ AM Show on Monday, November 11, 2024, with Benjamin Akakpo.

She emphasised that there must be consequences for impunity against the media in order to deter such actions. “There have to be sanctions for impunity against media professionals, and stronger sanctions at that.”

According to the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), a total of 45 cases of attacks on journalists were reported between 2019 and 2023.

The most recent attack involved Joy News’ Environmental Journalist, Erastus Asare Donkor, and three of his colleagues, who were attacked in the Ashanti Region while reporting on illegal mining activities in a protected rainforest. The journalists were assaulted by armed illegal miners, who also seized their equipment.

Despite the victims’ efforts to seek justice, the Ghana Police Service has been slow to act on the case.

In an effort to ensure the safety of journalists, the President of the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA), Cecil Sunkwa-Mills, also speaking on the show, said that his organisation has been organising programmes to train journalists. Over 1,000 media practitioners have benefited from these initiatives.

“In the past 24 months, together with several institutions, we have conducted training, capacity building, and media literacy programmes for over 1,000 journalists from media houses across the country. This is to help align ethical practices and also enhance technical skills.”

Ghana currently has a broadcasting bill, introduced in 2014, and over the years, stakeholders in the media sector have called for its passage into law. The government, on the other hand, has promised on several occasions to pass the bill, but this has yet to be done.

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According to him, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has been unpathetic towards freedom of speech and a free media since he took office in 2016, adding that it wouldn’t be part of his legacy when he “exits the high office of President in January 2025.”

Read the full letter below:

Dear President Nana Akufo-Addo,

I am appalled at the growing criminalisation of speech and journalism in Ghana, under your watch, in this 21st century.

An investigative journalist was murdered, under very troubling circumstances. Yet, while the Ghanaian people and the international community have demanded justice, Government’s inability or unwillingness to act is obvious to all. The police have virtually shelved the investigations into this brutal murder.

There have also been several disturbing incidents of harassment of journalists in the line of duty; we have witnessed media establishments closed down on your instructions, despite many appeals to you.

Now, in a space of less than two weeks, four people have suffered police action, criminalizing their right to free speech.

Radio and TV presenter Captain Smart was dragged from court, and although he had been granted bail, sent into detention. Another radio presenter, Oheneba Boamah Bennie has been incarcerated for statements he allegedly made. A civil society activist was arrested, detained, sent to court on criminal charges, granted bail and yet detained again for making a statement against you, President Akufo-Addo.

As if to suggest insincerity behind the serious decriminalization of speech that you led, another radio presenter, Bobie Ansah, has been arrested, detained and charged– criminalized for speaking and making allegations against your wife.

Again, last week, security personnel linked to your party brutalized a radio presenter and producer in the city of Takoradi. Such lawless attacks have today become common occurrences in our country.

President Akufo-Addo, you cannot continue to oppress the people, criminalize speech when these matters are essentially civil in nature, if you feel offended by them.

It is even more sad that the Journalists Association and its senior members, many of our clergy and other moral leaders, scared because of the oppressive and dictatorial regime you are running, have remained quiet in the face of this disturbing development in our maturing democracy.

This is a dangerous blueprint you are fashioning for our dear nation and it must not be encouraged.

Your actions as President have totally discredited your self-acquired accolade as a human rights lawyer and activist. Ghana has long emerged from the unfortunate past where journalists were cowed by incarceration and brutalization.

I fear that if you do not take immediate action to arrest this unfortunate trend, when you exit the high office of President in January 2025, freedom of speech and a free media will certainly not be counted as part of the legacy you leave behind.

Your brother,
John Dramani Mahama.

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