Editor refuses to disclose source of the IGP’s leaked testimony

The Editor of the Daily Guide Newspaper Gina Blay has refused to disclose the source of the newspaper's publication of the leaked testimony of the IGP before the committee.

Mrs Blay was hauled before the committee today to disclose the source of her paper's near verbatim the testimony of the IGP; Patrick Acheampong heard in-camera before the Georgina Wood committee last week.

The publication has raised ethical questions about the media's right to information and the national security reasons cited for the in-camera hearings of the committee.

The development has also brought into focus the issue of the powers of the committee and its ability to secure information submitted before it from being leaked to the media and for use by some other entities other than the committee itself.

But when Mrs Blay appeared before the committee she refused to disclose her source.

The Editor of the Daily Guide editor Gina Blay told the committee it will be impossible to disclose the source of her near verbatim publication of the IGP's in-camera evidence before the committee. She told the committee that she neither bugged the meeting room nor got the information from one its members. She described the source of her information as a privileged source. Responding to suggestions of possible ethical violations Mrs Blay said careful consideration went into publishing the leaked testimony of the IGP.

Lawyers for ACP Kofi Boakye who objected to the publication said they appreciate the committee's effort at establishing the source of Daily Guide's publication. They said there was little they could do since; the editor of the paper had refused to disclose her source.

The committee, which holds no sanctioning power acknowledged it can do little to prevent future leaks. Chairperson Justice Georgina Wood appealed to the media to be guided by journalism ethics in publishing in-camera sessions of the committee.

With more in-camera hearings expected before the end of the committee's sitting, the issue about leaks to the media and the ability of the committee to protect witnesses testimony's in-camera will be an issue that will certainly be debated for the rest of the committee's sitting.