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General News of Tuesday, July 23, 2019
Source: Myjoyonline.com
2019-07-23
play the videoDr. Charles Wereko Brobby
Renowned media freedom champion Charles Wereko-Brobby said the administration of President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo had the worst record in press freedom.
Dr. Wereko-Brobby's 24-hour Radio Eye Radio – the first radio station – tells the story of the first frontal attack on media subversion in Ghana.
The radio operated for 24 hours in 1994 before being closed by security forces for unlicensed broadcasting. This incident earned him the nickname "Tarzan" after a minister compared his fight for media freedom to the way Tarzan – a fictional character in a popular jungle story – jumped from tree in tree.
Having actively participated in the struggle for freedom of the press since the establishment of the Fourth Republic, when he appeared before Prime Minister Express on Monday as the only guest of the current affairs program, Dr. Wereko-Brobby's contributions were marked by historical facts.
His discussion of the subject of "Defending Media Freedom in Ghana" was also hard-hitting and straightforward, but also thought provoking.
When he was instructed by his moderator, Evans Mensah, to give his badessment of the freedom of the press under the current administration compared to that of previous governments, he did not mince his words.
"I would not want to give any ranking except to say that the current government was the worst … of the Fourth Republic," he said.
He justified his badessment on PM Express: "It is not hard … because in all other republics, there was the monopoly and monotony of GBC. [state-owned Ghana Broadcasting Corporation] So we were not really talking about freedom of the press.
"Here, through the actions of the one who occupies the position [President Akufo-Addo] and some of us, we have actually established the pluralism that allows people to choose. And what is happening now, both deliberately … and inadvertently, you are now creating a state of insurrection and silence that is eroding. "
Ghana's world rankings in press freedom confirm Dr. Wereko-Brobby's badessment.
Ghana lost four points in the latest rankings of the 2019 World Press Freedom Index, rising from 23 to 27 over the previous year.
Worse still, Ghana has also lost its status as the highest ranked country in Africa in the World Press Freedom Index, compiled annually by Reporters Without Borders (RWB), which badesses the state of journalism in 180 countries. country.
Not only that. The attacks on media professionals led to the launch of a campaign to defend the constitutional rights of journalists.
Since January 2018, at least 11 journalists have been attacked by members of the security forces and supporters of the party. There were no prosecutions.
Multimedia reporters, TV3 Network, Citi FM, Ghanaweb, Ghanaian Times, A1 Radio, Kotoko Express have all been victims of attacks.
Arbitrary arrests and detentions, attacks on press houses, torture, seizures and the destruction of press material. He has made 31 incidents of attacks and violations on 41 journalists since 2017.
Dr. Wereko-Brobby, former Chief Executive Officer of the Volta River Authority (VRA), also said he had a hard time recognizing that President Akufo-Addo was leading the way. apparent deletions of media freedom.
During the crackdown on Radio Eye, Akufo-Addo, who was acting as a lawyer, prevented Dr. Wereko-Brobby from being incarcerated.
Commenting on the recent closure of two NDC radio stations, favorable to the opposition – Radio Gold and Radio XYZ – the former CEO of Ghana @ 50 said that he had met the president to remind him, among others, the fight that they had started and the foundations they had built together to achieve a progressive media landscape in Ghana.
During his meeting with the president, he said that "his problems did not include closing the stations, but they went back to the fight we had started. I told him that we fought for that and that you are now able to do something about it. "
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