Press Freedom Review For Ghana

Below is the 2002 report by the International Press Institute on the freedom of press in GhanaThe government and the opposition continue to play politics by manipulating the media in the country, though the media is trying to distance itself from this situation. Since February, Ghanaians have doubted whether President John Agyekum Kufuor’'s new government can deliver to a country on the verge of collapse. Though some say he has done remarkably well, an important question is: what has he done to uphold press freedom in Ghana?

In early February, when former president Jerry Rawlings made a statement on Joy FM calling Ghanaians to participate in a "Positive defiance" of Kufuor, the government was not pleased with the broadcast. However, Rawlings defended his statement saying, "There is something called unlawful order. We must learn how not to accept wrong things from authority. Positive defiance is what I used to call it." The Ghanaian Chronicle, unimpressed by Joy FM, responded that "The nation was once again treated to what has become a seasonal volcanic eruption from the lips of ‘the old man’ who insists on being seen as a man of integrity."

These indicate how both the ruling party and the opposition respond to Ghana’s media. However, the newspaper agrees that the issue at hand is free speech, something "to be heard, enjoyed, discussed and ignored". Though there were outrages in some editorials, others agree that, "as a free citizen, Rawlings has the right to comment on issues of national interest". In the same months, the National Media Commission ordered the Accra-based Daily Guide to apologise to the University of Ghana for misquoting former health minister Dr. Richard Anane when it said that 17 per cent of the students are infected with the HIV virus.

In July, there were increasing number of physical threats to journalists. On 31 July, The Daily Dispatch published two letters, which threatened Kweku Baako Jr., editor of the Crusading Guide, with physical assault and death. Reportedly, Baako is also one of the key figures in murder threats against both him and Margaret Amoakohene social commentator, and lecturer at the School of Communication Studies, University of Ghana. The court case involves Victor Smith, an assistant to Rawlings, who allegedly wrote the letters. Baako is seen as a media critic of the former regime. His recent report revealed financial links between the former first lady and a Swiss bank account.

These articles led Bright Blewu, Secretary-General of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), to comment that "Threatening journalists with murder is totally unacceptable. It cannot be accepted in any civilised society, more so in a democracy such as Ghana." A couple of months before the threats, their was an armed robbery threat against the editor, Harruna Attah. Attah, who reported the case to authorities. He is said to be under constant police protection at his home.

The killing sparked a wave of carnage between the Andani and the rival Abudu clan. Despite the three days of arson, looting, robbery and murder, news of the violence in Yendi was slow to reach the outside world. When journalists started reporting about the fighting, the former minister of interior, also a member of parliament for Yendi, categorically denied on local and international media that there were problems in the region. He claimed that his constituency was unruffled and then accused journalists and the country’s media of being "mischievous".

On March 30, the government imposed strict control over journalists covering the clashes in the north of the country. Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Minister of Information stated that unless journalists were writing about an official press release, they are required to clear stories on the conflict with the ministry responsible for the area. This followed the president’s declaration of a state of emergency on March 27 when Dagbon king, Ya-Naa, Yakubu Andani II and several of his supporters were killed during fighting between rival clans in the town of Yendi.

Under the 1994 Emergency Powers Act, the government may censor any news from or about an area affected by a state of emergency. When the government finally allowed the media to report, Yendi had been turned into a ghost town with 28 bodies littering the late king’s compound. Twenty-one people were also wounded. The government has been accused of not handling the situation well, especially the censorship of reports on the region’s king.

On August 26, the government backed National Media Commission (NMC) sacked Seth Ago Adjetey, Director General of Ghana Broadcasting Cooperation (GBC) and Eva Lokko was appointed as the new Director-General. She is believed to be the first woman to head GBC. A press statement said the decision was taken "in consultation with the President". In an interview, Yaw Boadu-Ayeboafo, the Executive Secretary of the NMC, said "We don't have to assign any reason for his dismissal, if a man is sacked, he is sacked".

But other sources stated that there were financial malpractices, the fraudulent award of contracts, and incompetence at the GBC after five months of investigations. To cap the problem, the Ghanaian Chronicle reported that "Adjetey made nonsense of the constitutional provision of the media’s non-interference by government by succumbing to manipulations by the Castle and the Ministry in a programme, "Dialogue with the Nation", that is slated to hit the screen in mid September."

On 31 October, the Ghanaian Chronicle reported that the secretary general of the Timber and Wood Workers Union, Joshua Ansah, publicly slapped Kwesi Mould, senior editor of the Monitor newspaper. The report said, Ansah "grew rather wild" when Mould along with other journalists from GBC, Chronicle, Heritage and Graphic covered a dispute at a local timbre processing firm. In an unrelated issue, Ansah claimed that one of the newspapers had written a one-sided article about him. Ansah who described the workers as "rebels" said they had no right to speak to journalists; he then attacked Mould. Journalists who witnessed the episode say they would testify against Ansah in court.