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“Enough of the rhetoric, Ghanaian media is under attack” – Kofi Asante Mensah to Prez

A Press Freedom Fighter and an Anti-corruption Campaigner, Kofi Asante Mensah has chided the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo over his recent statement extenuating that the Ghanaian media is not under attacked under his watch.

Date Created : 9/11/2019 6:29:15 AM : Story Author : William Dei-Gyau/Ghanadistricts.com

"I have observed with heart ache, the unfortunate, hypocritical and misleading remarks made by President Akufo-Addo extenuating that the Ghanaian media is not under attack under his watch. With all due respect Mr. President, this is a complete deception, deliberate insincerity and disingenuous comment orchestrated by cruel intent to rake back lost and non-existing glory" he stated.

According to President Akufo-Addo, “Ghanaians are, today, as they have been doing for much of the 4th Republic, able to give boldly and freely their feedback on policies and programmes of government; civil society organizations are able to interrogate fearlessly government actions and positions, compare them to global best practices, and offer views and critiques aimed at complementing the efforts of government; and the political opposition is able to raise dissent openly, and canvass without intimidation for alternative viewpoints.”

This claim Mr. Kofi Asante Mensah observes in a press statement that the president knows his statement cannot stand the test of time, it rather insults the intelligence of the people of Ghana and the media industry, he asserted.

He stressed that "the records are crystal and evident, the daily harassments, beatings, assaults, murder etc. of Journalists some by your Party sympathizers and faithfuls, your own Prophets Rev. Owusu Bempah, security officials police, soldiers, fire officers, state and national assigned officers Ghana Card Officers among others".

Recounting on the number of media brutality, the press freedom fighter said "the Media for West Africa (MFWA) revealed some 17 media persons brutalized in 2017/18, whiles the United Press for Development Network (UPDN) has also stated that, Ghana shamefully recorded 31 media assaults in 2018 (Jan - Dec), and not less than 15 Journalists have been assaulted and some assassinated (Ahmed Suale on Feb 16, 2019) since the beginning of the year 2019".

"With this evidence of worsening and deteriorating press freedom where impunity for crime against journalists has literally become the order of the day, how can you score this cheap political point? Notwithstanding the several reported incidents of abuses against journalists, punishment of culprits has been very rare hence Ghana’s down grading in the recent Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index".

"Radio stations have been shut down in the name of license renewals. Journalist(s) has/have been flown outside Ghana for the purpose of safety because some Government sympathizers unsatisfied with an investigative piece (Militia in the Heart of the Nation) by Investigative Journalists" he stressed cautioning that Ghanaian media deserves better, since Journalism is not a crime