The Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Mr. Sulemana Braimah has expressed worry about the decline in media freedom in Ghana and is therefore calling for stronger independent media support organisations and associations that would work effectively to promote and defend the media freedom.
The media in Ghana has for some time now been subjected to several serious violations and abuse of their rights and freedom especially under this present regime. As a result, Ghana has now moved from 26th in 2017 to 30th in 2020 out of 180 countries on the world media freedom ranking.
Speaking at the Ghana Speaks II virtual public forum in Accra organized by the Centre for Social Democracy (CSD-Ghana), Mr. Braimah thus called for new reforms to make the National Media Commission (NMC) more purposeful for the current times by granting it more powers. He also wants the NMC members to work as fulltime commissioners. The Forum which was supported by the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), was under the theme: “The State of Freedom of Expression and Media Freedom in Ghana”.
The MFWA Boss bemoaned the dramatic decline in the number of investigative journalists and investigative reporting in Ghana due to the unfriendly and hostile environment in which the media operates now.
Mr. Braimah observed that the current posturing of the state was undermining the critical watchdog role of the media and also silencing the critical voices that demand accountability, transparency and fairness.
The Rights Activist and Journalist, Madam Nuong Faalong chronicled some of the various brutalities and murders suffered by some Ghanaian Journalists under the current NPP government led by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, with the murder of Ahmed Suali of Tiger Eye as most unfortunate.
She lamented that journalists are the lowest paid professionals in Ghana if not Africa. This she said had compelled most journalists to sell their conscience to the politician and other corrupt officials.
Madam Faalong urged the public to stop attacking journalists and trying to hold them accountable over the politicians who are paid by the taxpayers.
Freelance Investigative Journalist, Manasseh Awuni Azure could not hide the frustrations and consistent attacks suffered under the present government, even though he had maintained the same critical position against previous governments without any such hostility.
He accused President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of doing next to nothing to protect journalists and their freedom under the constitution of Ghana.
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