President John Dramani Mahama has disclosed that personnel from the Ghana National Fire Service who assaulted a journalist from Class FM at Kasoa have been identified and interdicted, with investigations into the incident ongoing.
Speaking during a courtesy visit to the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) in Accra on Thursday, President Mahama strongly condemned the attack, emphasising that violence against journalists has no place in Ghana’s democratic society.
“I’m a journalist by training, and so there’s no way we can countenance the continued assault on journalists,” the President stated.
He revealed that the government has been actively engaging the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) and relevant security agencies to address the issue and implement measures to prevent future occurrences.
“We’ve been in touch with the Ghana Journalists Association on these issues. We’ve put them in touch with the security services,” President Mahama added.
The President highlighted the need for a fundamental change in attitude among some security personnel, noting that journalists and security officers play complementary roles in serving the public.
“We need a reorientation of many of our security personnel to understand that just as they are doing their job of providing peace and safety, journalists are also doing their job of informing the people as to what is happening. They’re not antagonistic to each other. Indeed, they’re both serving the same public,” he explained.
Acknowledging that such incidents may occasionally arise, President Mahama insisted that they must be handled with utmost decisiveness. “When they come, they must be dealt with as firmly as possible,” he said.
He further confirmed that the Minister of Government Communications is overseeing the matter, with disciplinary actions already initiated against the implicated officers.
“The officers have been identified. They’ve been interdicted, and an investigation is ongoing. But we won’t countenance assault on journalists,” President Mahama affirmed.