Tema,– Mr David Agbenu, Ghana Journalist Association (GJA) Presidential Aspirant, has stated that enhancing the safety of journalists would be one of the cardinal mandates of his administration should he win next month’s GJA election.
He said journalists play crucial role in societies, yet media freedom and the safety of journalists were under threat around the globe; “as men and women always on the frontline seeking for the welfare of others even at the peril of their lives, it is time for them to be adequately compensated.
“We must prioritize the safety and welfare of journalists to ensure that they work in a conducive environment. The status of journalists must be uplifted to higher level; journalists too deserve better”.
Speaking on the Ghana News Agency-Tema Office and Tema Motor Transport and Traffic Department Road Crashes Prevention Campaign, Mr Agbenu, currently the Editor of the Ghanaian Times expressed concern about impact of road crashes on journalists.
Mr Agbenu who was accompanied by Mr Norman Cooper, a Deputy News Editor of Ghanaian Times, noted that journalists and the public are getting tired of the constant security institutions apologizing on behalf of the establishment after some recalcitrant officers brutalizes journalists or members of the public.
“We need action to be taken against such officers whose unprofessional conducts affect the public and tarnishes the image of the security agency,” he said.
He expressed concerned about the recurrent attacks against journalists and other members of the public by operatives who were paid by the tax payer to protect the citizens.
The GJA Presidential Hopeful therefore urged the Ghanaian authorities to take all necessary measures to increase the protection for media practitioners and ensure the security of journalists.
He also appealed to media institutions to make the safety of journalists a priority.
Mr Francis Ameyibor, Tema Regional Manager of the Ghana News Agency (GNA), called for a paradigm shifts in the Ghanaian architecture; “Friends of the media a popular phrase from most Ghanaian speakers are meaningless unless we begin to give journalists the right recognition”.
“It is distasteful to witness journalists invited to an official event being relegated to the background and sometimes ignored, yet these same institutions or event organizers expect news stories out of the event to reach out to the world from the same person they have side step,” he said.
Mr Ameyibor noted that; “it is time media practitioners demonstrate to the world that the pen is indeed mightier than the sword. We must not only fight for the rights of others; we must also fight for our own rights”.
He tasked the aspiring GJA Presidential Hopeful to lead a crusade to fight for better condition of service for journalists; “sometimes you see journalists fighting for other workers whose condition of service is far better than that of the journalists but still agitating for enhance conditions,” stressing “who fight for the journalists”.
Mr Ameyibor noted that journalism was a noble profession, “we must be accorded our due in the comity of workers, let’s all fight for the journalists and those working in media establishment too small, our work is also hazardous”.
The GJA Elections is slated tentatively for Sunday, October 3rd; Mr Agbenu, Editor of the Ghanaian Times who is also a former GJA General Secretary; Mr Albert Kwabena Dwumfour, Head of Corporate Affairs, Tobinco Group of Companies who is also incumbent GJA Organising Secretary; and Mr Gayheart Edem Mensah, a media consultant, are contesting for the GJA Presidential slot.
Mrs Linda Asante-Agyei, of the Ghana News Agency and incumbent GJA Vice President goes unopposed as well as Mrs Audrey Dekalu, also of the Ghana News Agency, and current National Treasurer also goes unopposed.
Mr Kofi Yeboah, current General Secretary who worked with the Graphic Communication Group and Ghana Broadcasting Corporation is being challenged by Mr Akwasi Agyeman of the Multimedia Group.
Ms Mary Mensah, Daily Graphic and Mr Dominic Hlordze of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, are contesting for the Organising Secretary post.
Source: Ghana News Agency
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