Ghana has joined other commonwealth nations to pledge their commitment for the protection of Journalists at the just ended Global Conference for Media Freedom held in London, the United Kingdom.
The two-day conference, among others, discussed ways to ensure responsible media and support for the safety and protection of journalists across the globe.
The maiden Global Conference for Media Freedom was jointly
Ghana’s delegation at the conference was led by the Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah.
“Ghana has repealed the Criminal Libel Law, enacted a whistle blowers law and recently passed the Right To Information (RTI) Bill,” he said, adding that these developments have introduced a refreshing pluralism onto Ghana’s mass media landscape.
Stressing that, “it has also opened up access to new and diverse voices that have promoted democracy and participation in governance and development, and above all enhanced press freedom”.
The
Information Minister said Ghana’s performance on the World Press Freedom Index,
within the last few years, has been commendable despite the recent reported
cases of attacks on media freedom.
“In recent years, Ghana has also experienced its
share of the global attacks on free media despite our good track record. The worst, has been the cold blooded murder
of Ahmed Suale believed to be connected with his work as an associate of the
media organisation Tiger Eye PI.”
Regrettably,
the Information Minister said, “our investigative agencies have not made much
headway in arresting and punishing perpetrators of such acts. It appears we
took our media excellence and public tolerance for granted but now we have to
face up to the changing realities and do more”.
The Minister and Member of Parliament (MP) for
Ofoase Ayirebi, disclosed that Ghana was taking measures to fight abuse and
attacks on journalists through the implementation of a coordinating mechanism
on the safety of journalists which would help equip various stakeholders to
prevent abuse and independently validate future claims of attacks.
He disclosed that Ghana was rolling out a media
capacity programme in support of quality journalism but would not shy away from
legislating against misinformation and disinformation which constitute
challenges that threatened confidence in the media.
Mr Oppong Nkrumah challenged media practitioners
and journalists to go beyond investigating and exposing nefarious acts. He said
they should also use their platforms to highlight positive advancements of
societies.
By TIMES REPORTER
