President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Albert Dwumfuor has said the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and his team have let the media down for failing to prosecute individuals who attack journalists.
According to him, the GJA has gotten the police involved in recent attacks on journalists but the Service has not responded to their plea.
The GJA President indicated that, the only option left was to blacklist those who attack journalists.
Mr. Dwumfour on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen programme Tuesday said the Police is being biased in their procedure citing the swiftness with which they responded to the murder of the Jirapa Dubai hotel CEO but have ignored journalists.
“Dampare and his team have failed the media. The confidence journalists had in him has gone down. There are several instances of attacks on journalists but nothing has been done. The swiftness with which they made arrests of the Jirapa Dubai’s CEO murder shows they are biased. We have followed due processes but still has yielded no results. So blacklisting was our last option,” he said.
The GJA president also called for a reassessment of the system to enable journalists work without fear or favour.
“The system needs to provide an enabling environment for journalists to thrive, to be able to discharge their duty without fear or favor. But if that system doesn’t care and doesn’t prosecute assaulters then we have a problem. The situation is abnormal if the system can’t protect us especially when the attack is increasing,” Mr. Dwumfuor said.
