Help stem attack on media practitioners — GJA President calls on civil society organisations

THE President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Mr Ransford Tetteh, has called on civil society organisations to help in the crusade against the consistent assault on journalists in the line of duty.
Mr Tetteh said journalists played a pivotal role in the dissemination of information and advancing the country’s democracy and must, therefore, be allowed to do their work within the confines of the law without any form of intimidation, particularly from politicians.
Mr Tetteh said this when MTN, the major sponsors of the 2008 GJA media awards ceremony, presented prizes to the award winners. The Best Journalist of the Year was won by Mr Kofi Akordor of the Daily Graphic, who also won the Columnist of the Year.
Each award winner took home a Laptop, modem and MTN starter pack.
Additionally, the winner of the best ICT and Telecom Reporter, Mr Charles Benoni Okine, will attend an all-expense-paid trip to participate in the Highway Africa conference in South Africa, while the Best Sports Reporter, Mr Maurice Quansah, will attend the 2010 World Cup also in South Africa, both on the ticket of MTN.
Mr Tetteh cited the most recent assault on Afua Pokua, a female journalist with Adom FM, a Tema-based radio station, by the bodyguard of former President J.A. Kufuor at the recent special delegates conference of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) held at the Trade Fair Centre in Accra.
He also cited attacks on journalists in the Eastern Region by supporters of the NPP during the rerun of the parliamentary election in six polling stations in the Akwatia Constituency in the Eastern Region and said such attacks should be condemned in no uncertain terms.
Mr Tetteh described these attacks as unwarranted, intended to undermine and retard the achievements gained in the promotion of media freedom in the country.
He said the patience of journalists was being pushed to intolerable levels and indicated that journalists in the country would not abuse the law by adopting self-help approach to achieve redress and called on the police to deal with those who would want to trample on the rights of journalists in the country.
Mr Tetteh said journalists would not be deterred by those acts of cowardice by a section of the public and would continue to work hard to demand accountability and transparency from the public.
The acting Customer Service Executive, Ms Afua Falconer, said MTN would continue to partner the media to consistently improve standards and build capacity in the field of journalism while rewarding excellence in journalism.
Ms Falconer gave the assurance that MTN would continue to be innovative and creative for the benefit of its cherished subscribers. “We will not compromise on our can-do spirit which requires that we give our subscribers the best of service at all times,” she added.
She commended the MTN-media partnership in sharing information and providing constructive feedback from customers regarding the company’s operations in the country.
She also asked the public to participate in the SMS-based Text GO 2010 promotion which is intended to whip up interest towards the FIFA 2010 World Cup in South Africa.