Linda Ofori-Kwafo, the Executive Director of the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), has challenged civil society organisations (CSOs) and other stakeholders to rally support behind the media in its fight against corruption.
She acknowledged the sacrifices media persons were making in exposing corrupt practices in the country, especially relating to government officials saying that “it is about time the CSOs stand up and condemn the violence against media personalities because of the important roles they play in the fight against corruption”.
Mrs Ofori-Kwafo, who chaired discussions at STAR Ghana’s anti-corruption learning event, noted that “not too long ago we had Mohammed Ibrahim-Suale of blessed memory being killed, we had some media persons from Ghanaian Times being assaulted by police officers who are supposed to be protecting us.
“CSOs and other stakeholders must stand firmly behind media persons in their bid to fight corruption and also demand justice for media persons who have been involved in any brutality in their line of duty.
“Every journalist’s life is equally important as the life of any other person, and if we don’t join and demand for sanctions of perpetrators of those heinous crimes, a time will come that it can be civil society persons like myself, I actually called on my colleagues to come together for us to condemn and demand for accountability so far as violence against the media fraternity is concerned,” Mrs Ofori-Kwafo bemoaned.
She also touched on the fact that in order to better handle corruption at its core, stakeholders would have to rethink corruption and anti-corruption approaches and mechanisms. -ghanaweb.com
