It is not an overstatement to say that at long last, the battle over the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) national executive elections is over.
This is because the actual part of the process that points to the possible holding of the elections took place yesterday.
Yesterday, those contesting for various national positions in the association went for the balloting to pick the numbers to determine their positions on the ballot papers needed for the elections on Friday.
The exercise took place at the Ghana International Press Centre at Osu in Accra, and for the presidency, the Editor of the Ghanaian Times, Mr David Agbenu, secured the number one position.
He is followed by Mr Gayheart Mensah, a media consultant, at number two with Mr Albert Kwabena Dwumfour of the Atinka Medial Village and incumbent Organising Secretary of the GJA, picking the third and last place on the presidential ballot paper.
That is to say three persons are contesting for the position of the President of the GJA.
Besides, there are three other positions being contested, namely General Secretary, Organising Secretary and Public Affairs Officer.
A story on the balloting exercise in today’s issue of the Ghanaian Times states that Mr Akwasi Agyeman, of the Multimedia Group and Mr Edmund Kofi Yeboah, current General Secretary, are vying for the General Secretary position; Mary Mensah of the Daily Graphic, and Dominic Hlordzi of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) are locking horns for the Organising Secretary post; and Ms Rebecca Ekpe, Online Editor of the GBC, and Ceasar Agbagali, Ghana News Agency’s Upper West Regional Manager, are slugging it out for the Public Affairs Officer role.
Every member of the GJA should heave a sigh of relief and hope that all will be well within the few days to the elections, during the elections and afterwards, including the tenure of the incoming Executive.
It is public information that certain issues, including a court case over the tenure of office of the outgoing Executive, combined to delay the forthcoming elections, which were supposed to be held far earlier than this time.
The Ghanaian Times is happy that finally, the elections are hopefully going to be held not because its Editor is a contestant, but peacefully to demonstrate to the whole world that members of GJA disagreed at a point but have resolved their differences and now agreed to forge ahead as a unified group.
This is normal and acceptable because dissenting views are not completely bad as they prompt people to consider the views of others and can hopefully cause changes in certain positions.
The Ghanaian Times believes the Electoral Commission officials would show professionalism in Friday’s elections to avert any misunderstanding.
Once that has happened, all the contestants should exhibit sportsmanship by congratulating each other, whether winners or losers.
Let the whole world acknowledge that journalists do not only talk and appeal for peace, fairness and respect in elections but they themselves uphold such virtues.
