Elections should not drop a single blood -Owusu-Ankomah

THE Minister for Trade, Industry and Presidential Special Initiative (PSI), Papa Owusu Ankomah, says with the existing peace in the country, there is no need for anybody to shed blood in the name of seeking power. He added that the sitting government, under President John Agyekum Kufuor, is committed to ensuring that the December polls were conducted in a free, fair and transparent manner.

Papa Owusu Ankomah stated this in Takoradi, on Friday, when he interacted with the press in the region, and donated a Samsung Air conditioner worth GH¢ 850 to the press center in the region to enhance their activities.

He appealed to all Ghanaians to commit themselves to this effort and embark on a non violent campaign towards the December poll so that the general election would be conducted in a peaceful atmosphere.

According to the Member of Parliament for Sekondi, it was paramount for the press in the country to commit themselves to responsible journalism and properly inform Ghanaians on issues affecting them, since the media is the mirror of the society.

He said, aside the crucial role of the average Ghanaian and the politician in guarding and guiding our fragile peace process, the work of the press was also paramount in that direction. Therefore, accurate reportage from journalists in the country on issues affecting national development would certainly bring development and continue to maintain the brittle peace in the country. “Fairness may some times inflame passion, but you should know better and act accordingly” he pointed out.

He also said though it is affirmed that journalistic standards under the sitting government had improved over the last seven years, their desire as a government to continue to support press freedom might not be accomplished if responsible journalism is not practiced in the country.

Papa Owusu Ankomah, in that light acknowledged what has been done in the past for the profession and promised the unflinching support of the government to the sector.

He cited the International Press Center in Accra as one of the greatest achievements of the GJA under the sitting government, which has contributed significantly to the good work of journalism in Ghana.

The MP said, as a friend of the media and having served as Minister for Information under the sitting government when it assumed office, he was confident that the good governance upheld by the government would be further enhanced if the press continue to execute their watch dog role without fear or favour.

“Our support to the press goes to demonstrate our commitment to press freedom in this country”, he pointed out.

He stressed that as a government, they believe journalists must be able to put them on their toes, because it would be dangerous if the country did not have a good media in the country to deepen our democracy.

To this end, the legal luminary and one of the seasoned legislators in the country said it behoved on the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) to expose charlatans who parade themselves as journalists in the country.

He proposed to the Association to take immediate and bold steps to expose those who were not journalists and fish them out, because of the manner in which free speech was being abused by a section of the public.

This, to him, was the only way to help the Association to weed out the bad nuts in the profession.

On his part, the Western regional chairman of GJA, Mr. George Naykene, who received the donation on behalf of the GJA, commended the Minister for responding to the appeal made by the association and urged all other institutions and individuals who believe in press freedom to support the center to function effectively.

He said, at the moment the center needs more computers that would be networked to link the regions in order to monitor the December polls.