Five journalists from different media houses, who were covering the Council of State Elections in the Ashanti Region, were beaten up by unidentified men at the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council on 11 February. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) joins its affiliate, the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), in condemning this violent aggression. It also calls on authorities to launch an investigation that will bring the perpetrators to justice.

According to local media reports, five journalists reporting on the electoral process were seriously assaulted by unidentified individuals at the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council. They are reporter Kifi Adede of Oyerepa Radio and Television; Henry Attah Kofei of Osiekrom Dawuro Newspaper; Charles Awuah Mensah of Lawson Television; Gabriel Kwasi Oppong of Angel Broadcasting Network; and Gideon Nana Peprah of Ghana Web. Four of these journalists sustained injuries and had to be treated at the hospital.

Journalist Gideon Nana Peprah told Ghana Web that seven men stormed the venue without provocation and began assaulting everyone, including reporters and electoral officers. “They started scattering everything, the ballots, the prepared ballot papers and the tally sheets. I was attacked by seven or eight of them. They claimed they saw me taking videos and ordered me to delete them. Before I could react, they seized my phone and overpowered me. I was slapped and struck with a metal object on my mouth.”

The President of the GJA, Albert Kwabena Dwumfour, spoke at a news conference on 18 February. He called on the President of Ghana, John Mahama, to take action to end attacks on journalists and to ensure that the perpetrators of this assault are arrested and tried for their crimes.

GJA’s President pointed out that six journalists had been attacked within one week in February. Four of the attacks happened in Kumasi, in the Ashanti region, and two at Walewale, in the northeast region.“Our colleagues from the GJA Ashanti Region assisted the victims to go to hospital and reported the matter to the police. Our intelligence suggests that the thugs and criminals who assaulted the journalists are supporters or sympathisers of the ruling political party” said Dwumfour.

At the news conference, the GJA President expressed concern about the delay in finding the killers of journalist Ahmed Suale. Ahmed Suale was shot dead in the capital, Accra on 16 January 2019, in what is suspected to be a ‘contract killing’. Dwumfour added: “Given the fast-eroding trust and confidence in the Police in respect of the investigation, arrest and prosecution of suspects involved in the murder of Ahmed Suale, the GJA indicated it may seek redress in international forums. We served notice that if by the end of March 2025, the Ghana Police Service has not come out with something concrete on the investigation, arrest and prosecution of suspects in this murder case, we shall go to the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) Community Court of Justice to seek resolution of this matter.”

IFJ General Secretary, Anthony Bellanger, said that the spike of attacks against journalists in Ghana calls for an immediate and decisive response from the authorities: “The perpetrators of crimes against journalists and their colleagues must be investigated and prosecuted. There is no excuse for any democratic government to continue to sit on the fence, while crimes against defenceless journalists continue to increase unabated. The perpetrators of these crimes must not go unpunished.”

The IFJ, its Pan-African regional organisation, the Federation of African Journalists (FAJ), and the GJA are closely monitoring the police investigations into the brutal murder of journalist Ahmed Suale. The IFJ and FAJ stand shoulder to shoulder with the GJA, to ensure that his killers are brought to justice as soon as possible. Impunity has no place in a democratic society.

Source:IFJ