The incident, reported on Monday, January 26, 2026, is said to have occurred on the outskirts of Walewale, an area that has recently experienced heightened insecurity due to repeated attacks on public transport, resulting in deaths and injuries.

Reports indicate that soldiers travelling in an armoured vehicle and a military truck from Bolgatanga to Tamale allegedly stopped in Walewale and assaulted the North East Regional Correspondent of Media General, along with other civilians, without provocation.

The soldiers are also alleged to have damaged property at the scene, including motorbikes and commercial vehicles, creating fear and apprehension among residents.

Available information suggests that the journalist was detained for more than four hours, and images on his mobile phone documenting his injuries were reportedly deleted.

In a statement, the Ghana Armed Forces acknowledged the incident and assured the public that investigations have commenced to establish the facts.

GAF also cautioned that the prevailing security situation in the North East and Upper East Regions has necessitated intensified military operations, some of which may be conducted without prior notice.

The Armed Forces urged the public to cooperate with security agencies to help maintain peace and stability, noting that the outcome of the investigation will determine any further action.

Reports indicate that soldiers travelling in an armoured vehicle and a military truck from Bolgatanga to Tamale stopped in Walewale on Monday, January 26, and reportedly assaulted the North East Regional Correspondent of Media General, along with other civilians, without provocation.

According to the MP, the soldiers also damaged property at the scene, including motorbikes and commercial vehicles, leaving residents in fear and apprehension.

He alleged that the journalist was detained for over four hours and that images on his mobile phone documenting his injuries were destroyed.

Checks at the Walewale District Police Command and the local military unit suggested that neither authority had been informed of, nor had authorised, the actions of the soldiers involved, the MP added.

Recalling a similar incident in February 2025, he noted that the same journalist, along with two others and several civilians, had been allegedly assaulted, with victims sustaining injuries without receiving compensation.

Rejecting claims that the assault was linked to recent bus attacks, Tiah Abdul-Kabiru Mahama insisted no such incidents had occurred recently. He emphasised that residents have largely remained calm and law-abiding, despite frustrations over the handling of the Bawku conflict and the lack of security escorts for travellers.

Condemning what he described as a pattern of military brutality in the area, the MP warned that such conduct, if unchecked, could spark dangerous military-civilian confrontations.

He has called on the Acting Minister of Defence to investigate the incident immediately and ensure that those responsible are held accountable.

The military has not yet issued an official response to the allegations.

The incident occurred as firefighters battled a devastating blaze at the market, during which tensions reportedly rose between fire officers, traders, and some local youth who had gathered at the scene.

Eyewitnesses say the situation escalated after some residents and traders attempted to assist in extinguishing the fire, while others filmed the operation. In the ensuing clash, three people, including the journalist, reportedly sustained injuries.

According to eyewitnesses, some fire officers allegedly assaulted individuals who were recording videos at the scene, including Samuel Addo, despite him identifying himself as a journalist on duty. Some women present were also reportedly attacked while filming the incident.

Speaking after the event, Samuel Addo said he was beaten by the officers while covering the clash and alleged that GH¢20,000 went missing during the assault.

The injured victims were later attended to, and calm was eventually restored at the market.

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Speaking after the Matchday 14 encounter, Zito questioned what he sees as double standards in football reporting, particularly in the way injury concerns are treated when raised by local coaches compared to their European counterparts.

“Some journalists are unfairly putting pressure on me. When Pep Guardiola says Rodri is injured, nobody complains. But when I say we have 13 injured players, it suddenly becomes a problem,” Zito said.

The Kotoko coach also defended his team’s league position and called for patience as the season progresses, describing the campaign as a long journey rather than a sprint.

“The league is a marathon. If you’re lambasting me because we were sitting fifth, then you’re not being fair, especially when you know the problems I’m facing,” he added.

Kotoko had gone four matches without a win before the Dreams FC fixture, a run that sparked frustration among sections of the club’s supporters, with some calling for Zito’s dismissal.

However, the victory appears to have eased tensions around the club, at least temporarily.

Despite the scrutiny, Zito maintained that he remains unfazed by the criticism.

“If I leave Kotoko today, nothing will happen to me,” he remarked, stressing his belief that the criticism directed at him is unwarranted.

With the win, Asante Kotoko have climbed to third on the Ghana Premier League table with 24 points and will face Eleven Wonders in Matchday 15 this weekend.

A Reuters cameraman and an Associated Press (AP) journalist were among those killed in the attack at Nasser Hospital. Another journalist is reported to have worked for Al Jazeera.

Several people were killed in an initial strike, and others in a second which happened as rescuers attended the scene, the Hamas-run Civil Defence said.

The Israeli military said it had carried out an attack on the hospital and an investigation had been ordered. It added that it “does not target journalists as such”.

The Hamas-run health ministry said people were killed when a missile hit the fourth floor, followed by a second missile on the same spot when rescuers arrived, AP reported.

In video from the scene, a doctor standing at an entrance to the hospital – the main one in southern Gaza – holds up bloodied clothes to show journalists following the first strike. Suddenly there is a blast, sending people running for cover as glass shatters. A man injured by the blast is seen trying to drag himself to safety.

In other footage, white and grey smoke can be seen billowing from an upper level of the hospital where damage is apparent. Outside, people are running and shouting amid chaos, as ambulance horns can be heard.

Reuters news agency said its cameraman, Husam al-Masri, was among those killed. AP said Mariam Dagga, a freelance journalist working for it, was also killed. The news agency said it was “shocked and saddened” by the 33-year-old’s death.

The others are said to have been Mohammed Salameh working for Al Jazeera, and photographer Muath Abu Taha. US TV network NBC said Taha did not work for it, as had been initially reported.

The Civil Defence said 15 people were killed, including one of its members, AFP news agency reported.

Monday’s attack comes two weeks after six journalists, including four from Al Jazeera, were killed in an Israeli targeted attack near al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

The UN’s human rights office condemned that attack, calling it a grave breach of international law.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had targeted Anas al-Sharif, a prominent Al Jazeera reporter, alleging he had “served as the head of a terrorist cell in Hamas”.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a leading body which promotes press freedom, said Israel had failed to provide evidence to back up its allegations.

The latest deaths brings the number of journalists killed in Gaza since the start of the war there in October 2023 to about 200.

The war was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others taken to Gaza as hostages.

Israel responded with a massive military offensive, which has killed more than 62,686 Palestinians, according to figures from Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, which the UN considers reliable.

Source: BBC

Mr Amaliba condemned the recent assault on a JoyNews journalist and his interviewee by a soldier, describing it as an affront to Ghana’s democratic order.

“You need to ensure that these security agencies comply with the democracy that we have,” he said on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday.

He urged a review of military training curricula to include modules on democracy, human rights, and good governance. According to him, equipping officers with such knowledge is essential to fostering respect for civil liberties and the rule of law.

“We need to look at the curriculum of these state institutions. Do they have subjects such as democracy, good governance, and media law? They are operating in a democratic setting, and you need to train them to be amendable to democratic principles.”

He added, “Moving forward, this should be the end, we need to draw a line.”

Source: Albert Kuzor

Speaking on Adom FM’s morning show Dwaso Nsem, Mr. Braimah described the attack as deeply disturbing and criticized the pattern of impunity surrounding such incidents.

He emphasized that repeated failures to punish offenders have emboldened others to assault journalists without fear of consequences.

“It’s very disturbing. Those behind these attacks must be punished lawfully and severely. Without accountability, people feel they can harm journalists with impunity,” he said.

SULEMAINA BRAIMAH ON JOURNALIST ATTACK

His comments follow reports that personnel from the Ghana Armed Forces allegedly assaulted JoyNews journalist Carlos Calony and an eyewitness near a demolition site on the Spintex Road in Accra.

While the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) has announced investigations into the incident, Braimah criticized the military’s statement as vague and unsatisfactory.

“The attack was clear. They can’t tell us they don’t know who was involved,” he added.

He urged the presidency to publicly condemn the act and reaffirm Ghana’s commitment to press freedom, stressing that real action—not just words—is needed to protect journalists.

“I have no doubt the President is committed to press freedom, but it’s not just about commitment, it’s about fighting impunity,” he stated.

Source: Farida Seidu | Adomonline

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Recounting his experience during an interview on Adom FM’s Dwaso Nsem, the journalist said he was carrying out his duties when a police inspector suddenly instructed him to leave the premises.

He noted that several other journalists were present in the same area, and he was surprised to be singled out by the officer.

“I even showed him my ID card to prove that I am a journalist, justifying why I couldn’t leave — then he slapped me,” the reporter recounted.

In a press release dated July 11, 2025, the Police said the officer has been withdrawn from election duty and referred to the Police Professional Standards Bureau (PPSB) for investigation as part of internal disciplinary procedures.

The Service assured the public of a thorough probe into the incident and promised to provide further updates in due course.

Source: Adomonline.com 

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A judge ruled that two tweets by Giulia Cortese, who was also handed a suspended fine of €1,200, were defamatory and amounted to “body shaming”.

It followed an exchange in which Ms Cortese described Ms Meloni as a “little woman” and told her: “I can’t even see you.”

Reacting to the verdict, Ms Cortese said the Italian government had a “serious problem with freedom of expression and journalistic dissent”.

The pair first clashed in October 2021, when Ms Meloni’s far-right Brothers of Italy party was still in opposition, after Ms Cortese posted a mocked-up image of Ms Meloni on X, formerly Twitter.

Ms Meloni was seen in the image standing in front of a bookshelf on to which a framed photo of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini had been artificially added.

In a post on Facebook, Ms Meloni said the image was of “unique gravity” and that she would be taking legal action.

Later the same day, Mr Cortese said she had deleted the image after realising it was fake, but accused Ms Meloni of creating a “media pillory” against her and said the Facebook post showed that she was a “little woman”.

She later said in a separate post: “You don’t scare me, Giorgia Meloni. After all, you’re only 1.2m [3ft 9in] tall. I can’t even see you.”

Ms Meloni’s height is reported in Italian media to be 1.63m (5ft 3in).

Ms Cortese was cleared for posting the initial image but convicted over the later tweets.

She has the option to appeal but has not yet confirmed whether she will do so.

Ms Meloni’s lawyer said she would donate any money she received to charity.

Responding to the verdict on X, Ms Cortese wrote: “Italy’s government has a serious problem with freedom of expression and journalistic dissent.

“This country seems to get closer to [Viktor] Orbán’s Hungary: these are bad times for independent journalists and opinion leaders. Let’s hope for better days ahead. We won’t give up!”

She later added that she was “Italian and proud to be” but that “we deserve better than this appalling and shameful government”.

The Doha-based Gulf Times announced Saturday that Al Kass TV photojournalist Khalid al-Misslam “passed away recently.”

The Qatari reporter “died suddenly while covering the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022,” the Gulf Times tweeted. “We believe in Allah’s mercy and forgiveness for him, and send our deepest condolences to his family.”

How and when al-Misslam died remains unclear. But the announcement of his death came on the same day that a security guard was left seriously injured after falling at the Lusail Stadium.

An observer told The Guardian that the man fell from a “significant height” at around 2 a.m. on Saturday following Argentina’s quarterfinal win over the Netherlands.

The security guard, who is reportedly a migrant worker, is said to have plunged from the top outside concourse to the ground. Reports on Sunday suggested he was in a stable but critical condition.

Qatar’s supreme committee released a statement describing the incident as a “serious fall while on duty.”

“Stadium medical teams immediately attended the scene and provided emergency treatment before he was transferred to Hamad Medical Hospital care unit via ambulance,” the statement said, adding that Qatari authorities are “investigating the circumstances leading to the fall as a matter of urgency.”

News of al-Misslam’s death and the security guard’s fall came a day after US journalist Grant Wahl died.

Wahl, 48, was covering the Argentina vs. Netherlands game on Friday when he is said to have collapsed in his seat at the Lusail Stadium.

Witnesses said Wahl was quickly treated by emergency services workers before he was rushed to the hospital.

The World Cup’s organizing committee did not disclose his cause of death but said it was in contact with the US Embassy.

In the weeks before his death, Wahl made international headlines after he tweeted that he had been refused entry to the game between the United States and Wales on Nov. 21 because he was wearing a rainbow t-shirt in support of the LGBTQ community.

Homosexuality is illegal in Qatar and signs supporting gay rights have been treated with contempt by authorities at the World Cup.

Wahl said he was ordered to change his shirt by a security guard when he tried to enter the stadium.

On Dec. 6, Wahl wrote on his Substack that he had been feeling unwell and had attended a medical clinic.

“My body finally broke down on me,” he wrote. “Three weeks of little sleep, high stress and lots of work can do that to you. What had been a cold over the last 10 days turned into something more severe on the night of the USA-Netherlands game, and I could feel my upper chest take on a new level of pressure and discomfort.”

He added that he did not have COVID and that medics advised him that he “probably” had bronchitis, an inflammation of airways in the lungs.

“They gave me a course of antibiotics and some heavy-duty cough syrup, and I’m already feeling a bit better just a few hours later. But still: No bueno,” Wahl wrote.

The personnel were responding to a fire outbreak that gutted a warehouse at Weija junction.

The two journalists, Akwasi Addo and Frank Osei, employees of Metro TV and Citi TV respectively were reporting on the fire incident.

Whilst taking coverage, a man in plain cloth approached the duo and covered the lense of their camera with his palm asking why they were videoing the scene.

He did not accept any explanation and tried to snatch the camera from the operator, Frank Osei, resulting in tense struggles between him and the journalists.

In a video of the scene recorded by another reporter, the man who failed to disclose his identity is heard threatening to slap a reporter.

Whilst the journalists struggled with the man over the camera, some other uniformed fire service personnel numbering about 10 joined him and physically attacked the journalists.

During the attack, one of them struck the left cheek of Frank with a safety helmet causing it to swell.

Parts of the camera got broken whilst a laptop computer which was in a backpack had its screen broken.

The case has been reported at SCC Police station while medical forms have been issued to them.

Mohammed Zubair of AltNews has been accused of insulting religious beliefs on Twitter, a network of media organisations said.

Opposition leaders and journalists have condemned the arrest.

They said it was a clear attempt by the Hindu-nationalist government to clamp down on those who expose hate speech.

Mr Zubair recently highlighted comments of a spokesperson of the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) allegedly insulting the Prophet Muhammad during a television debate. His tweet was widely shared and led to several Muslim countries lodging strong protests with India.

In recent weeks, Hindu nationalists have drawn attention to past comments made by Mr Zubair and demanded that he be prosecuted for hurting their religious feelings.

Police say the arrest is based on a Twitter post by an account called Hanuman Bhakt, meaning worshipper of the monkey god Hanuman.

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The anonymous account, created last October, had just one follower until Tuesday morning. It has since risen rapidly to cross 1,400 followers.

The complaint against Mr Zubair is based on a 2018 tweet in which he had shared a photo of a hotel signboard modified from ‘Honeymoon Hotel’ to ‘Hanuman Hotel’.

Many pointed out that the photo was actually a screengrab from a 1983 Bollywood comedy by acclaimed director Hrishikesh Mukherjee.

On 19 June, the Hanuman Bhakt account shared this four-year-old tweet, saying it was a “direct insult” to Hindus. The account also tagged the Delhi Police, asking them to take “immediate action” against Mr Zubair.

A prominent Indian journalist, Mohammad Zubair started the fact-checking website AltNews with former engineer Pratik Sinha in 2017.

The website quickly rose to prominence for its diligent work in combating misinformation and fake news in the country.

Fact checks from AltNews are frequently shared by Mr Zubair on Twitter where he has more than half a million followers.

Last week, Mr Zubair posted an e-mail from Twitter saying the microblogging site had received a request from the government claiming that his account had violated Indian laws.

He later received another e-mail saying his tweets on provocative comments made by a Hindu group had been withheld in India under the country’s IT laws.

On Monday, Mr Zubair was detained over a complaint from a Twitter account that said he insulted Hindus in a 2018 post commenting on the renaming of a hotel after the Hindu monkey god Hanuman, the ANI news agency reported, citing senior Delhi police officials.

A statement by the police later said that the tweet had been amplified by Mr Zubair’s Twitter followers and “created a series of debates/hate mongering”.

Police claim their investigation found Mr Zubair’s conduct “questionable” which “warranted his custodial interrogation”.

Pratik Sinha, also a co-founder of AltNews, who accompanied him to the police, said neither he nor Mr Zubair’s lawyers were provided with a copy of the complaint on which the arrest was made.

They were also initially not told where he was being taken after being detained.

Mr Zubair was produced before a local magistrate late Monday night who granted the police one day’s custody. Following this, he was allowed to meet his lawyer.

Mr Zubair is known to keep a hawk eye on hate speech and Twitter posts on comments made by supporters of the BJP have invited intense backlash.

Many journalists and activists have been demanding his immediate release.

“Zubair who routinely busted fake news, exposed the hate machinery in India has just been arrested,” said Rana Ayyub, a Muslim journalist. “The country is punishing those who reported, documented the decline.”

Opposition Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted: “Every person exposing BJP’s hate, bigotry and lies is a threat to them. Arresting one voice of truth will only give rise to a thousand more.”

From Tamale, 16-year-old Yehuza Ibtisam Npahya has gained admission to Accra Girls Senior High School.

On Wednesday, April 6, 2022, she’s arrived at the school where she hopes to inch closer to her dream.

‘I was on the trip [to Accra] all by myself. I slept a lot. In fact, I slept, woke up, slept and work up again’, Ibtisam said as she recounted her 382-mile journey from Tamale, the heart of the Northern region to the national capital.

Unlike the hundreds of stranded people at the Ghana Education Service’s Resolution Center for placement issues, Ibtisam is fortunate to have been placed at AGISS, one of only few all-female high schools in Accra. It is a dream-come-true for her.

‘I searched on the internet and saw pictures of the school together with its history. I liked it so I decided to apply here. And I got in’, she said while beaming with smiles.

She was one of the over 500 girls who were arriving on the school’s campus for the first time as binafide students.

As freshers, their pink checkered uniforms set them apart from their seniors or rather, the sisters.

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Sonia, the perfect of the new house Ibtisam will be staying muttered a few of the rules which must be obeyed by all.

“You can’t call the seniors just by their original names. You must prefix it with ‘Sister’, For example you can call me Sister Sonia not Sonia”, she said.

Also, “when you see a Sister climbing up the stairs you’ll have to descend for her to complete the climb before you take the stairs too. And you must take your bucket away from the tap if you see a Sister getting close with her bucket”, Sonia added.

This sounds unsettling for Ibtisam.

“I can deal with calling them sisters, but taking my bucket away when a Sister brings her bucket is strange”, she retorted while assuring she’ll obey and go ‘cry later’.

But as she thinks about all the learning and re-learning awaiting her, she’s struck by the unmistakable statue of a student with her face buried in a book, sitting right at the entrance.

The Tamale girl is immediately reminded of the real reason she is in Accra in the first place.

“I want to be a journalist or a news caster. So I’ll do whatever I’m told by my teachers she I’ll contribute to class discussions too”, she pledged.

Her father, Yehuza Abubakar believes her. He is confident of an even better moulded Ibtisam, when he returns to pick her up at the end of her 3-year stay at the school.

He said, “her classmates should watch out.  I believe she’ll do even better than she did in the BECE”.

For now, Ibtisam says she’ll miss home as this will be the first night she’ll spend outside her home without her parents.

And there will be many more lonely nights, only the new faces she’s seeing today will become the partners with whom she travels her 3-year high school journey.

The man was filmed moving his hand towards Greta Beccaglia as she faced the camera after a Serie A football match in Florence.

The incident on Saturday prompted anger and solidarity with the reporter.

Ms Beccaglia of Toscana TV filed a harassment complaint against the man, who is under police investigation.

“You can’t do that, I’m sorry,” the journalist said to the man in the video, as fans streamed out of the stadium after Empoli’s 2-1 win over Fiorentina.

Moments later, TV anchorman Giorgio Micheletti told Ms Beccaglia not to get cross about the incident during the broadcast. Mr Micheletti was criticised for the comment and Toscana TV said he was taking a “professional break” from the programme.

Mr Micheletti said he was trying to defend Ms Beccaglia and apologised for “the unfortunate words I used in the frantic moment of Saturday’s live broadcast”.

Ms Beccaglia also accused another man of trying to touch her in an incident that was not filmed.2

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Saturday’s incident came as Italy’s top league and its players were taking part in a campaign denouncing violence against women. All players wore a red mark on their faces as a sign of solidarity against harassment.

The alleged assailant has been named as Fiorentina fan Andrea Serrani.

He could face criminal charges and the police commissioner of Florence has issued an exclusion order against him. The order, known as a Daspo, prohibits him from entering places where sporting events take place for three years.

In an interview on Italian TV, Mr Serrani said he had made a mistake and apologised to Ms Beccaglia but denied his actions amounted to sexism.

He had made the gesture in a moment of anger after his team’s defeat, he explained.

But in an interview with the Corriere della Sera newspaper, Ms Beccaglia said Mr Serrani’s comments had left her speechless.

“Do you really think you haven’t done anything wrong?” she asked.

She said she hoped her case would prove useful “because women need to be better protected” in Italy.

Toscana TV said it would support Ms Beccaglia as she pursued legal action.

The journalist had initially been remanded for two weeks on charges of publication of false news with the intent of causing fear and alarm to the public contrary to the Public Order Act, and false publication of news through an electronic device contrary to the Electronic Communications Act, 775 of 2008.

He is now out on bail to the tune of GH¢50,000 with two sureties, one being a resident of Sekondi-Takoradi.

He is also to report to the police once a week to help in investigations.

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He has pleaded not guilty to charges after a caller into his morning show claimed his girlfriend had been kidnapped and a GH¢2,000 ransom taken from him.

Mr Chris Obileri of Radio Nigeria’s Purity FM, and his wife, Mrs Ngozi Obireli of Anambra Broadcasting Service got married on December 28, 2007, and have since been praying for the fruit of the womb. 

Their prayer was answered after Mrs Obileri conceived after 13 years and gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl.

The children were dedicated during a mass at St Joseph’s Catholic Church, Awka, on Sunday, September 19.

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The journalists said they were filled with joy of being parents and recalled that they held on to God when people thought there was no possibility of conceiving. 

Check out more photos below:

The Amankrado of the area, Baffour Kwame Amponsah III, performed the rites on behalf of the Omanhene, Barima Essah Kwesi Mensah Bediako III.

As part of the installation ceremony, he showered powder on him to officially signify that Samuel Osei Agyei is now a chief.

The new Asomkahene, whose stool name is Nana Kwaku Agyei Kodie I, will serve as the ‘ear’ of the chiefs and people of Anum Asamankese led by Barima Esaah Kwasi Mensah Bediako III.

He will be taken through traditional lessons for three days before his official outdooring and coronation.

This is where he will swear an oath of allegiance to Barima Essah Kwasi Mensah Bediako III on Sunday during the Akwasidae, which is a durbar of the chiefs and people of Anum-Asamankese.

Mr Agyei, who is a journalist by profession is currently the Managing Editor of www.frontpageghana.com and the Organising Secretary of the Parliamentary Press Corps.

 
The occasion was witnessed by all sub-chiefs of Anum-Asamankese, Queen Mothers, friends and well-wishers, members of the Parliamentary Press Corps, family members, and chiefs of the Asomkahene.

In the viral video, military officers were seen assaulting residents over a missing mobile phone, an action the Ghana Armed Forces has condemned after serious public backlash.

In an interview with Citi News, the journalist said although there hasn’t  been any threat on his life, he has been advised to be cautious.

“Yesterday, so many people heard me speaking the Waala language in the video I recorded, so people were pinpointing their fingers at me and so for security reasons, I thought it wise to move my family out of town.

“I have not received any threat, but the messages I have received made me feel I am not safe. I was not able to sleep in the house, and I do not think I will go there again,” he said.

On Thursday, July 1, 2021, a video went viral showing armed soldiers beating some residents of Wa on the street.

Some witnesses, who spoke to Citi News, said the soldiers claimed they were searching for their stolen mobile phone.

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They recounted how the officers, who could not be immediately identified, stopped tricycles and brutalised residents, particularly young men.

The incident added to a tumultuous week for the military after some soldiers opened fire on protesters at Ejura on Tuesday and killed two while injuring six others.

A public inquiry has been instituted into the Ejura incident, with a resolution expected by July 10 after a directive by the President.

The Ghana Armed Forces has met with traditional leaders and the people of Wa in the Upper West Region and apologised for the manhandling of the residents by its officers.

Reports indicate the incident occurred on Wednesday, April 7 2021.

This was not long after the journalist who works with the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) returned from work.

The deceased was said to be a video editor and TV producer with the state media house.

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Social media has since been awash with tributes in her honour and commiseration messages to her family.

The @MediaCouncilK has learnt with sadness, the unfortunate death of Ms. Betty Barasa, a Senior Video Editor with @KBCChannel1. The Council expresses it deepest condolences to family, friends and colleagues. #RIPBettyBarasa@CrimeScribesKE pic.twitter.com/k20x5vYqVt

— Media Council of Kenya (@MediaCouncilK) April 8, 2021

The Media Council of Kenya in a statement has also condemned the killing.

Read the statement below:

I asked further questions and I was told that 800 doses of the vaccine provided to Ghana through the Covax initiative have been allocated to journalists.

I was excited about the opportunity. I have never bought into the wild conspiracy theories. I have been looking forward to the opportunity to get vaccinated. And here was one!

On second thought, however, I decided to decline the invitation so I communicated it to the GJA executive and gave my reason.

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I’m relatively young and do not have any known underlying health condition. I know many active or retired journalists are old.

I also know journalists who are young but have underlying health conditions that make them more susceptible to the vagaries of Covid-19.

With the limited doses available, I don’t think it is right to go and get the jab while those who need it more than I may not have the opportunity.

Ghana has a population of about 30 million. We took delivery of 600,000 doses from the Covax arrangement.

And if each person is to get two doses of the vaccine, then it means we will cover 300,000 people. (I stand to be corrected).

I’m eager to get this vaccine to protect myself, my family, and those I come into contact with.

But I know there are many people out there–in this case, many journalists–who need it more than I.

 I’ll wait.

Mr Bennie was dragged to court by the Attorney-General (A-G) for contempt of court after he (Bennie) allegedly claimed that President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo had influenced some Justices of the Supreme Court to rule in his favour in an event of any election petition following the President’s victory in the just-ended 2020 general election.

The court, presided over by Justice Elfreda Amy Dankyi, issued the bench warrant today (Wednesday) after Mr Bennie failed to appear before the court today.

It followed an application by a Deputy A-G, Godfred Yeboah Dame.

Per the order of the court, Mr Bennie must be arrested and produced before the court tomorrow (Thursday, December 24, 2020).

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Background

The A-G dragged Mr Bennie to court on December 17 this year for contempt of court

After the declaration of President Akufo-Addo as the President-elect by the Electoral Commission (EC), Mr Bennie allegedly published a video on his Facebook wall, claiming that President Akufo-Addo had met with eight justices of the Supreme Court, led by the Chief Justice, and had influenced them.

He claimed the President used the supposed meeting to influence the justices of the apex court to rule in his favour in the event of any election petition challenging his re-election as declared by the EC.

In the said video, he allegedly said Ghanaians would not allow the justices of the Supreme Court to destroy the country and urged the military to stage a coup d’etat.

Violation of the Constitution

The A-G makes a case that through his publication, Mr Bennie wants to tell the public that judges, including the justices of the apex court, decide cases not independently but by taking directives from the President.

Such an assertion, the A-G argued, if allowed to go unpunished, would amount to gross disrespect for the judiciary, which is a violation of the 1992 Constitution.

According to the A-G, Mr Bennie knew that there was a possibility of a challenge to the presidential election at the Supreme Court and, therefore, by poisoning the minds of the public against the court, he wanted to cause disaffection for the court.

“That the respondent’s disrespect for the Judiciary and the publication of false news intended to bring the Judiciary into disrepute makes him liable to be committed to prison in order to vindicate the undoubted authority of the Judiciary enshrined in Article 125 of the 1992 Constitution,” the affidavit in support of the A-G’s case added.

Oheneba, as he is popularly known, allegedly claimed the President had influenced some justices of the Supreme Court after the declaration of the presidential election results.

The A-G is urging the Accra High Court to commit Bennie to prison for contempt of court for alleging that President Akufo-Addo had met with eight justices of the Supreme Court, including the Chief Justice, and that the said meeting was to influence the judges in the event of any election petition.

In an application for contempt filed yesterday, the A-G averred that the comments by him were false and were meant to bring the Judiciary into disrepute.

“The respondent’s (Bennie) contumacious comments were absolutely false, as neither the Chief Justice nor any judge had either been to the Jubilee House or met anywhere with the President of Ghana following the declaration of the results of the presidential election.

“His false publication clearly intended to undermine public confidence in the Judiciary and administration of justice in Ghana generally, as well as court contempt and disaffection for the courts,” the affidavit in support for the application stated.

Background

After the declaration of President Akufo-Addo as the President–elect by the EC, Mr Bennie allegedly published a video on his Facebook wall, claiming  that President Akufo-Addo had met with eight justices of the Supreme Court, led by the Chief Justice, and had influenced them.

He claimed the President used the supposed meeting to influence the justices of the apex court to rule in his favour in the event of any election petition challenging his reelection as declared by the EC.

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In the said video, he allegedly said Ghanaians would not allow the justices of the Supreme Court to destroy the country and urged the military to stage a coup d’etat.

Violation of the Constitution

The A-G makes a case that through his publication, Mr Bennie wants to tell the public that judges, including the justices of the apex court, decide cases not independently but by taking directives from the President.

Such an assertion, the A-G argued, if allowed to go unpunished, would amount to gross disrespect for the Judiciary, which is a violation of the 1992 Constitution.

According to the A-G, Mr Bennie knew that there was a possibility of a challenge to the presidential election at the Supreme Court and, therefore, by poisoning the minds of the public against the court, he wanted to cause disaffection for the court.

“That the respondent’s disrespect for the Judiciary and the publication of false news intended to bring the Judiciary into disrepute makes him liable to be committed to prison in order to vindicate the undoubted authority of the Judiciary enshrined in Article 125 of the 1992 Constitution,’’ the affidavit in support added.

Mr Bernie was invited by the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service on Monday, December 14, 2020, and kept in custody.

He was released at 5:15 pm on Wednesday, December 16, 2020, when the Police reportedly bowed to pressure from his lead counsel, Francis-Xavier Sosu to either send him to a court or have him released.

According to the renowned Human Rights and Public Interest lawyer, keeping his client beyond 48 hours was a violation of Article 14 of the 1992 Constitution.

Lawyer Sosu insisted that the offence in question was a misdemeanour and had to do with an alleged statement which the police already had and did not require any complex investigation.

He insisted that keeping the journalist in detention beyond the constitutional requirement also amounts to an abuse of power by the officers of the Ghana Police Service.

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The Police, that held the journalist on allegations of Offensive Conduct conducive for breach of the Peace under Sections 207 and 208 of the Criminal and Other Offences Act, 1960, Act 29, admitted him to bail in the sum of 100,000 with two sureties.

He is to report to the Police on Thursday, December 17, 2020.

Oheneba Bennie was grateful to his legal team which was made up of Dr Abdul Basit, Kojogah Adawudu, Sam P. Yalley and Mr Sosu, the Member of Parliament-Elect for Madina and all supporters who assisted him.

Edem Agbana, the National Organiser of the National Democractic Congress (NDC), Captain Joshua Akamba and madam Evelyn Mensah were some national officers of the NDC present to lend support to him.

The body of the late Mr Kori was found dangling from the tree on Sunday at their farm, six days after he was reported missing.

Kenya Union of Journalists Nakuru Branch Secretary Mr Kioko wa Kivandi on behalf of other journalists said they will campaign and sensitise members on mental health care in order to ensure that journalists are counselled as they face many challenges while on duty.

He said the country needs to invest in mental health. The late Kori suffered from depression.

“We need to know what triggered Kori to commit suicide and the cause of depression,” added Mr Kioko.

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Eulogising his colleague, People photojournalist Raphael Munge called on journalists to share their problems with colleagues and family members.

“Our colleague died because of depression. If he would have shared his problems to us, we could have saved his life,” said Mr Munge.

Nakuru Governor Lee Kinyanjui said the county government will work with the media to ensure that they operate in a conducive environment.

Other leaders present include Molo MP Kuria Kimani, former MP Njenga Mungai and a host of MCAs, among other leaders.

The development follows the displeasure of the speaker over journalists’ failure to cover the debate on the President’s State of the Nation Address (SONA).

Majority leader, Osei Kyei Mensah Bonsu, spearheaded the decision when he raised concerns over journalists giving regard to Member of Parliament for Elembele, Emmanuel Armah Buah who addressed the house on the energy sector at the expense of the SONA.

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The Speaker of Parliament, Majority and Minority leaders have claimed for themselves the authority to decide which issues reporters should pay attention to and threaten to withdraw accreditation of any outlet that fails to cooperate, Joy News’ Parliamentary correspondent, Joseph Opoku Gakpo lamented in a Facebook post.

Giving his stance on the matter, Speaker of Parliament, Prof Mike Oquaye ruled he would not exercise any reservations in withdrawing the permits of journalists from observing proceedings.

Below is Mr Gakpo’s post:

The court, presided over by her ladyship Gifty Adjei Addo, held that Hajia Fati violated the reporter’s fundamental human rights to free expression in the exercise of her profession as a journalist.

The court awarded a total cost of GH¢9, 000.00 against the known vociferous NPP supporter.

The court noted that her action was a threat to media freedom and ought to be punished to serve as an example against others who may intend to interfere with media right freedoms.

The court also observed that protection of such rights and freedoms was critical to a proper functioning democracy.

It, however, did not find the NPP liable, saying the party made it clear that Hajia Fati did not act on its instruction and this was evident in the party’s open condemnation of the assault.

Counsel for the assaulted journalist, Samson Lardi Ayenini, said his client is content that the court upheld her human rights.

Hajia Fati came under a barrage of criticisms in May 2018 after she assaulted the reporter who attempted to take a photo of her at the party’s headquarters in Accra.

According to him, the said journalists and some football officials who enjoyed their share of the money have now made u-turns and are criticising the budget.

Kweku Yeboah, who has been a vociferous critic of past AFCON budgets before his recent stint with the Normalisation Committee and Black Stars as spokesperson said all those who benefited must be quiet.

However, he maintained he received no winning bonuses during the tournament, adding that only per diems were paid to him.

Mr Kweku Yeboah said in the past when he criticised AFCON budgets, he declined monies from former Ghana Football Association (GFA) boss Kwesi Nyantakyi.

He also called for realistic criticisms of the 2019 AFCON budgets during a televised broadcast on Peace FM.

Budget beneficiaries

The Minister of Youth and Sports, Isaac Kwame Asiamah told Parliament on Wednesday that the state spent $4,564,532.00 during the competition.

He said the expenditure covered the playing body, the technical team, Members of the Parliament Select Committee on Youth and Sports and Culture and the Ghana League Clubs Association.

The remaining beneficiaries are the representatives of the Old Footballers Association, some staff of the Ghana Football Association, some staff of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, some members of the Ghana Supporters Union and journalists.

In this video, Dan Kwaku Yeboah suggests that some of the journalists criticizing the Sports Minister and NC benefited from the largesse so they should keep quiet.

In this video, Dan Kwaku Yeboah suggests that some of the journalists criticizing the Sports Minister and NC benefited from the largesse so they should keep quiet pic.twitter.com/MO7Tts8O0Z

— Daniel Oduro (@Daniel_Oduro) July 25, 2019

Source: Graphic.com.gh

Campaign Team for Former President John Mahama have mounted a manhunt for the security detail of the former president who attacked Joy FM staff, Kwesi Parker Wilson.

Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Ade Coker, who disclosed this on Asempa FM‘s Ekosi Sen Friday, said the team has referred the matter to the security who have begun investigations into the matter.

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He said when the security is able to identify the suspect, the campaign team will intend, take action accordingly.

“We are looking for the person or persons who attacked Parker. We actually called Parker and asked him to identify but he failed to do so because the people were so many at the time of the incidence.

“The security set up have begun a search for the culprits and I can assure you that when the suspects are found, we will take action accordingly,” he assured.

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The Joy FM reporter was slapped by the bodyguard, whose identity is yet to be known, the radio station’s online portal reported.

It was at the start of Mr Mahama’s five-day tour of the Greater Accra Region ahead of the December 7 presidential primary of the NDC.

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But Mr Ade Coker said the team is ever ready to foot the bills of the journalist who has been left with a bruised eye.

Opanyin Kwadwo Fordjour was a Senior Court Reporter at Oman FM belonging to maverick politician, Kennedy Agyapong

During the 2012 election petition, he marvelled Lawyers with his understanding of proceedings at the court though not a member of the BAR.

He left behind four children and a wife.

The body has been deposited at the Legon Hospital morgue, pending an autopsy.

It would be recalled Mohammed Ashiley who works with NET 2 TV a subsidiary of Kencity Media in October last year, fell from the Madina overpass and died while trying to capture video footages of the gas explosion.

Philip Akumaning, also known as Atta Panin, was picked up at Juansa, near Konongo, upon a tip-off over the weekend.

Portia Amma Agyeiwaa was found in a pool of blood in front of her room at the Bekwai suburb of Nyameduasi in April.

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She was pronounced dead on arrival at the Bekwai Government Hospital.

Preliminary police investigations revealed Portia was stabbed in the chest, thigh and left arm with a sharp object believed to be a knife.

A Bekwai Magistrate Court issued a warrant for the arrest of the suspect, a carpenter after police leads pointed to him in April.

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Philip is said to have gone into hiding in Accra but luck eluded him when he was arrested at Juaso in the Ashanti Region where he had gone for a funeral.

On Sunday, he led police to his Assin-Fosu base in the Central Region where the knife he allegedly used to commit the homicide was retrieved.

The presser was just about to start when a Land Rover Wolf (a military vehicle) screeched to a sudden halt on the asphalted Commercial Street in Bolgatanga, the regional capital. The armed forces, close to 10 in number, lost no time in jumping out of the vehicle and, each holding long canes, raced into the press confab crowd.

Suddenly, the crowd dispersed in separate ways as the troopers chased after everyone haphazardly. Information gathered by Starr News indicates the security agencies took that measure to avert a possible clash in the capital after picking up intelligence that another group loyal to the reshuffled minister was massing up at a venue not far from the Commercial Street to counter the action led by the anti-Bukari faction.

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The chaotic twist to the Commercial Street conference saw journalists assigned to cover the event join the fleeing conveners in shedding some calories against their will as everybody dived for refuge.

Whilst some bolted into a nearby yard of the Barclays Bank and joined an ATM queue (without any ATM cards on them) just to hide from the soldiers, some took shelter inside nearby shops doing compulsory shopping and a few, who had nothing to do with Rastafarianism, ran into a popular Rastafarian hangout along that street where they could flick their fingers and sway their heads without dreadlocks to some reggae rhythms so the fuming soldiers would not suspect they were among the runaway participants.

“But is this necessary? Is it necessary to thank the President for removing somebody from office? Now, look at what is happening,” yelled a client in the Barclays Bank’s yard. He looked grown and was very unhappy about the commotion in the street.

Soldiers disappear and reappear

Such was the speed at which newsmen fled the scene that if Friday’s night was a Radio and Television Personality (RTP) Awards Night and there was anything like “Best in Crossfire Flight Category”, it would be difficult to determine which of the ‘able entrants’ from the Upper East region should go home with the trophy.

Rockson Bukari himself, who has always described the media as “makers of modern minds” at every public function, would realise some of his ‘treasured’ newshounds can also be ‘chasers of golden boots’ if he watched the video of Friday’s aggressive flight.

After the soldiers had left, those who had disappeared returned from different routes to the scene, walking cautiously and palpitating. As they were mocking one another in the face, and rhetorically asking “Who say man no dey?” whilst nodding their heads with a smile, the military men emerged again from nowhere, more in number than before. And this time, the escape speed was far more than what is usually seen when a mob is desperately chasing a bird or a ruminant on the eve of a very important religious festival.

Two local drummers’ groups, who were engaged by the conveners to entertain the crowd after the event, also vanished from the spot. The directors of music, who spotted the soldiers first, did not notify their musical bands ‘terror’ had arrived. They fled first and their subordinates, putting their musical instruments aside, followed, outrunning everybody in their traditional costumes.

It is unlikely the entertainment bands would demand any money at the end of the day from the group that engaged them as the soldiers did not allow them to perform. And if they had received any cash ahead of the event, which never took place, they would either have to refund it or perform free of charge at any function (a naming ceremony or a wedding occasion) the group might have in the future.

The soldiers disappeared once more. But minutes later, they came back with some police officers and walked in silence through the street to an unknown location. As the up-and-down movement of the security officers became more unpredictable, some panic-stricken civilians who were still hanging around to see whether the stillborn press conference would still take place or not finally advised themselves by leaving the area quickly through ‘unapproved routes’. Even the proposed spokesperson for the group, who had boisterously accepted the task to read the press statement aloud, took to his heels in a smock before everybody, willingly leaving behind his new “spokesperson” title for anyone who might be interested in it.

Group sneaks out Press Statement on the outskirts

Dispersed but not dismantled, the determined leaders of the anti-Bukari faction still managed to meet the media at a faraway place and handed out to them copies of the statement which they had wished to deliver in front of followers who were in white headbands and displaying some placards before the sudden military raid disrupted the rally.

“Mr. President, we are happy you are not ‘a dead goat’ President like the NDC. We are proud of you because you are not the ‘Yen tie obiaa’ President. You have demonstrated that you are a leader with good listening ears. We hope your action will send a strong signal to those appointees who have suddenly become so pompous in oblivion about the toil and sweat of the grassroots.

“The future of NPP in the region is now very bright. We, therefore, formally congratulate Her Excellency Tangoba Abayage Paulina [on] her appointment as the Upper East Regional Minister-designate. Upper East is elated about your appointment,” the statement said.

Aware some people are opposed to his style of leadership, the Regional Minister has always said he is disliked by a section of the people in the region because he wants “the right thing done” regardless of the political shades anybody involved in “any wrongdoing” belongs.

Mr. Bukari, the first Bolgatanga Municipal Chief Executive, was reassigned Thursday as a Minister of State at the Presidency 18 months after he assumed office as Upper East Regional Minister. He is the first person to take over the region’s highest political office after 8 years of rule by the now-opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) and he is the first politician in the region to be succeeded by a woman as Regional Minister.

His supporters have indicated they will come up with a statement soon to thank President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for “elevating” him to the level of a “cabinet minister”.

Crusading Guide’s Anas Aremeyaw Anas and JoyNews’ Ohemeng Tawiah’s reports featured prominently in the 347-page book authored by Anya Schiffrin, a Director at the Colombia University.

While Anas’ investigations into corruption especially in the judiciary got attention of the author, Ohemeng Tawiah’s report on how officialaldom feed on donor support on malaria control programme in Ghana was mind boggling.
‘Feeding the Parasites’, a cross-border investigations and has two journalists, Francis Mbala of Democratic Republic of Congo and Janneke Donkerlo of Switzerland also contributing.

The duo have their stories captured Corruption and Health, Rural Affairs and the Environment sections of the book.

The African Muckraking is a collection of 41 pieces of detailed African investigative journalism which dates back to the 1930s.

Many of the African Muckrakers [featured contributors] have one way or the other risked their lives to tell their stories in unique ways. Some have been killed or incarcerated in their line of work.

The outstanding stories include passionately written labour abuses, police brutality, women rights, struggle for democracy and independence on the African continent, among others. Among them are stories on corruption and brutality by Mozambican journalist, Carlos Cardoso who was murdered in line of duty.

Author of the book, Anya Schiffrin is Director of Technology, Media and Advocacy Specialization at the Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.

She had spent two years collecting these outstanding stories written by African journalists which made impact in Africa over the last 75-years.

“We really began sort of treasure hunt. It involves looking in achieves around the world, newspaper archives , reaching out to African journalists to historians, to experts- to teachers around the world. It involves thinking hard,” says Anya Schiffrin.

That idea to do a book on African Investigative Journalism  was sold to Anya by Professor  Anton Harber of the University of Witwatersrand Journalism Program.

The book was launched on Thursday  at the  10th Global Investigative Journalism Conference currently ongoing in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Anya Schiffrin speaks on the importance of the two Ghanaian stories in  her book.

“There were two distinctive things about these pieces; one is Anas of course is world-famous, he’s controversial and people may disagree with his tactics but he is known globally and he is tackling a subject a lot of African journalists have tackled which is corruption and his tactics are controversial so that makes him interesting,” Anya said of Anas’ stories.

She then revealed: “The malaria piece was incredibly important  because health reporting and reporting about development are actually the stories that affect most peoples’ lives. If you want immediate media credibility,  you got to write stories that touch peoples’ lives.”

She added, “It shouldn’t just be the war, famines and the presidents. There should be stories about real people and their lives and the things that affects them.”

One of the contributors, Anas Aremeyaw Anas wants more journalists to venture into investigative journalism as he heaped praises on Ohemeng Tawiah for quality of work.

“It is an attestation to the fact that we must all work harder. I have always commended you[Ohemeng] and others on this kind of work. I think we are having more budding excellent journalists coming up and I can only pray that we all stay focussed,” he said.

According to him, the feat would be meaningless if more Ghanaian journalists are not encouraged to do investigative journalism.

“It’s meaningless if  we can find ourselves at theses stages without encouraging our colleagues to all be part of it.”

Introduction of  Anas Aremeyaw Anas and Ohemeng Tawiah, both members of the African Investigative Publishing Collective  stories were done by Evelyn Groenink,  Investigation Editor at ZAM Magazine, Netherlands.

Former Communications Minister in the Mahama administration has denied claims that vehicles intended for the press corps were not given to them.

Dr Omane Boamah said he has “absolutely no idea” about claims in the Kwesi Botchwey report intercepted by Joy News.

The report stated that “only 4 out of the 34 members of the Presidential Press Corps were given vehicles from a pool of about 200 vehicles available for distribution to the press corps and others.”

Dr Boamah whose name was linked to several allegations in the report doubted the authenticity of the report portions of which was read out on Joy FM.

He maintained that the party has not officially released the document, arguably the most coveted political report in the country.

The former Communications Minister described the claim of diverting cars for journos at the presidency and other allegations as “lies which have been peddled over a period by some calculated by journalists [and] some calculated by politicians.”

When asked if the politicians were within the party or from outside, he said, “you can look it from several angles…my position is that this is not a report that the NDC authored because the NDC has not made claim to this.”

“Thank God the NDC is doing what is necessary to put the party on a strong and sound footing,” he said.

According to the report, the Committee’s engagement with a section of the Press provided a window into the state of the party’s relations with the media. The following is a sampling of their views: There was a disconnect between the media, party and the government communication machinery.

Party spokesperson go and mess up with other stations and come to do damage control on Radio Gold

NDC disrespected its own media

NDC is intolerant of the media

NDC sponsored pro-NPP media who painted themselves as neutral

NDC had no patience to build neutral station

NDC press corps went through inhumane treatment under the party

President Mahama’s in-house communication team was squandering resources of the President meant for communication strategy

Ill-treatment of the media; no respect for the media

Presidential press corps was told by stand Dogbe that they were not part of the ‘system’ and that they were privileged to be part of the presidential press corps

Quarterly stipend meant for the press corps was not disclosed until August 30, 2016

Only 4 out of the 34 members of the Presidential Press Corps were given vehicles from a pool of about 200 vehicles available for distribution to the press corps and others.

Dr Omane Boamah and Stan Dogbe were the President’s undoing. The President was virtually naked with the two around him.

Stan Dogbe smashed a pressman’s recorder on one occasion and slapped another.

Stan Dogbe ‘edited’ money meant for victims of the accident involving the Presidential Press Corps from ¢50,000 that was supposed to be given to them to ¢5,000 and others got ¢10,000.

President never met his own presidential press corps among other views contributed to the party’s abysmal showing in the December 2016 election.

Larry Saint was asked by the paramount chief of the area, Omanhene Tetre Akuamoah Sekyim, to kneel in the sun for over three hours as punishment for expressing his views after which he was handed over to the police for a charge yet to be established.

The youth of Wassa Akropong caused a major stir in the mining town last weekend when they demanded that a national, Jiang Gen Hai, be handed to them for instant justice after the Chinese allegedly shot and killed a local last Friday.

Police faced a tough time protecting Mr Hai and other Chinese nationals who were then hiding in a room.

It took the intervention of Western Region Police Commander, DCOP Kwesi Duku, to bring the chaotic situation under control.

During the melee, Larry Saint had posted a voice note on a Whatsapp platform for journalists that the chiefs were not doing enough to ensure the safety of the youth of the area against abuse by the Chinese.

The voice reached the chiefs, where were not enthused by Larry’s comments. Wassa Akropong plays host to many Chinese nationals due to its mineral-rich lands.

“I was called by my manager to accompany him to the palace because the Chief has summoned us. So I went with my manager and when the Omanhene came he said he has got a tape to play for us and after that, he is going to take a decision.

“So he set up a PA address system and he asked if it was my voice, I said yes, and he asked me to kneel down on the tiles. So I knelt. After a while he asked me to get up and go into the sun,” Larry narrated his ordeal to Joy News.

Western Region Police PRO, Olivia Diku, also confirmed the subsequent arrest to Joy News.

Although Larry has been released, he receives messages of threats on his life, however, he says he cannot leave the town for fear of violating the directive of police.

OmanheneTetre Akuamoah Sekyim is yet to respond to persistent calls for a comment on the matter.

Meanwhile, a Takoradi District Court on Tuesday remanded a Mr Hai into police custody for shooting to death Nana Buah, 29.

He will reappear in court on Thursday, October 26.

Late Mohammed Ashley Yakubu will be buried in line with Muslim tradition.

The death of Mohammed came as a shock to the staff of Net 2 TV and Oman FM, the subsidiaries of Kencity Media Limited on Monday.

He was the station’s cameraman at the Flagstaff House, the seat of Government.

Late Mohammed Ashley who has been working with Kencity Media for several years allegedly fell from the Atomic junction flyover while filming the gas explosion that occurred last Saturday, 6th October, 2017.

A total of seven people perished, whereas 132 others sustained various degrees of injury. Six of the ded are yet to be identified.

According to him, “the group of journalists who are said to have been stranded were not part of the official presidential press team”.

The presidency has often been criticised for paying less attention to the safety of journalists who cover assignments of the president.

Under former Presidency John Mahama a journalist with the Ghanaian Times newspaper died and many others were injured when a rickety car carrying journalists on assignment with the President in the Volta region run into a ditch.

Reacting to concerns over how the media was treated in the Thursday incident, Mr. Hamid said “The vehicle that broke down was NOT the vehicle that was hired for journalists in the region by the Director of Communications at the Presidency.

Below are details of the statement

My attention has been drawn to a story with the above headline on Ghanaweb. I wish to make clear the following:

1. The vehicle that broke down was NOT the vehicle that was hired for journalists in the region by the Director of Communications at the Presidency. The Director of Communication has a dedicated corps of journalists in every region who cover presidential trips. In the Upper West Region, they were transported in a Nissan Coaster bus. In the Upper East Region they were given a Hyundai H1 bus.

2. The group of journalists who are said to have been stranded were not part of the official presidential press team. Apparently, the Public Relations Officer of the Regional Co-ordinating Council, Godwin Nkunu, hired this bus for some other journalists chosen by him and unknown to the Presidential Communication team.

3. The Minister for Information merely chanced upon their broken down vehicle because he attended hospital and, therefore, did not join the official convoy. They were in the company of Godwin Nkunu who was at that time making calls to get them another vehicle. Even so, the Minister stopped and also asked that a vehicle be procured from Bolga to pick them up. But, the journalists themselves said that it will be difficult to get any good vehicle in Bolga at the time. The Minister who had room in his vehicle for three people, picked three journalists and proceeded while instructing the PRO of the RCC (Godwin Nkunu) to stay and find a vehicle for them to catch up with the Presidential team.

4. Indeed, Godwin Nkunu found them another vehicle and they continued as scheduled.

……signed……
Mustapha Abdul-Hamid
Minister for Information

The victim, Isaac Nsiah Foster took to his heels as he was being pursued by construction workers with life-threatening objects led by the owner of fuel filling station under construction in the area.

According to reports, the journalist was at the site to investigate the illegal sighting of the fuel station following continual complaints from the residents near to the station.

In an interview on Adom News, Isaac said the owner of the fuel station whose name was given as John Appiah approached him and asked him to identify himself or he would be killed.

After he made his identity known, he ordered laborers at the site to deal with him claiming he was a criminal and an intruder.

But for the intervention of some commercial drivers in the vicinity, Isaac said would have been lynched.

He has since reported the incident to the police who have promised to investigate the matter.

Play attached audio for more 

The Exceptional Journalist Award recognises outstanding journalists whose works have impacted society positively.

The GUBA Awards, now in their sixth year, seek to celebrate exceptional talent and commitment to advancement within the Ghanaian and British community. The prestigious ‘GUBA Black Star Award’ will be awarded to thirteen outstanding members of the Ghanaian, UK and African community, honouring them for their consistency, dedication to excellence and longstanding contributions to society.

The GUBA Black Star award is in recognition of Anas’ exceptional dedication and courage in taking on some of the most daring investigative assignments in modern journalism in Africa.

As an undercover journalist and private detective and an attorney at law working in Ghana and across the African continent, Anas Aremeyaw Anas has manoeuvred his way into asylums, brothels, prisons, orphanages and villages, where he has methodically gathered and exposed evidence of high level crime, corruption and human right abuses.

In his latest investigative work, Anas went undercover for two years to expose a total of 34 judges engaged in corruption-related activities. These judges and over 105 judicial staff were caught on camera receiving bribes to influence judgment in Ghana’s courts.

Anas currently works as a lead reporter on Africa Investigates, a documentary series on Al Jazeera, which empowers African journalists to investigate and tell their own stories. Under the Africa Investigates project, Anas has so far produced over ten (10) award-winning investigative documentaries across the continent.

The GUBA Awards 2017 will be a night of acknowledging talent and celebrating Ghana at 60.

Cárdenas was attacked in Sinaloa province, where he lived and worked. The area in northwestern Mexico is known as the country’s drug capital.

Cárdenas began his career in journalism in the early 1990s, according to La Jornada, a Mexican news outlet where he worked as a national correspondent. He founded RioDoce in 2003, which has won several awards. He also won an International Press Freedom award in 2011.

He compiled much of his reporting into several books, the most recent of which, Narcoperiodismo, was published late last year. It tells the stories of Mexican journalists who have been victims of crimes.

Several other journalists in Mexico have been killed in recent months. Three were slain in March.

“In Mexico a ‘war’ is raging against journalists,” Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International, said in March. “The country has turned into a no-go zone for anyone brave enough to talk about issues including the increasing power of organized crime and the collusion of these groups with the authorities.”

In 1988, a 14-year-old Opoku returned to his native Ghana, continuing his secondary education at St. Hubert’s Seminary and Kumasi High School, both in Ashanti, and successfully gained admission at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology  (KNUST), but only on the second time of asking. After a year spent studying for a diploma in Data Processing, he switched to seek and complete a degree programme in Computer Science, bringing to a climax a somewhat convoluted educational circuit.

Opoku’s early years had not passed without incident, however. A year after his family’s return to Ghana (from Nigeria), his mom, Madam Dora Opoku, passed away tragically. Opoku discusses her almost teary-eyed and not without a hint of nostalgia that has hardly faded with time.

“She was a massive influence on my life and it is because of her that my sister and I are Christians today. My mom was a special woman and I guess my one regret is that she is not alive today to see my family and what I have become. She was also a disciplinarian like my dad, and that is one reason why I have stayed principled all my life.”

The conversation soon moves to a subject less grim: his days at Kumasi High School.
While Opoku readily admits he was not so good at the sporting disciplines while in school – the most he did was unsuccessfully try his hands at goalkeeping – his passion for them could hardly be faulted, as he indulged them in what ways he could.

He recalls: “I would always try to go for Inter-Schools athletics competitions and follow the Kumasi High School football team for matches.”

I started out on radio, did TV, and moved into print. I believe that is what makes you a complete journalist and, thankfully, I do a fair job at all three

There was more to young Opoku’s sporting adventures than mere spectatoring, though, as he reveals.
“I probably should have realised that I was to become a journalist because I used to write articles and paste them on the notice wall of the Dining Hall at KUHIS about the football games I attended.”

For one whose journalistic instincts had been honed albeit unwittingly while yet so young, Opoku’s choice of study at tertiary level was quite unusual. On face value, the fields of Computer Science and soccer could not have been more distant from each other, yet Opoku, ever so observant, does not fail to spot and highlight the subtle parallels.

“Mathematics (a sine qua non for any computer scientist) was one of my strongest areas and so I always loved working with statistics. Maybe that is why I am able to retain so much information in my head as a football commentator and memory retention is one of my biggest assets in my job. Attention to detail (another forte for people of Opoku’s professional field) is also something I do because of that discipline I offered,” he notes.

Observing him going about his work as meticulously and professionally as could be, it isn’t hard to see his point. His has, indeed, been a sparkling journalistic career. And yet, as he explains in detail, it all began rather unexpectedly, almost as if by accident. Listen to him tell it as it happened: “After my first year at KNUST, I wanted to travel abroad like my friends to do holiday work before starting my second year of schooling but those plans fell through. So I was teaching part-time at a computer school in Kumasi when LUV FM began operations in Kumasi.

“Before then, during the holidays, Garden City Radio asked for people to audition for possible jobs there. I actually went there and read a script and was asked to come back at a later date which, unfortunately, never materialised because I wasn’t contacted. Later, a friend of mine who was working there at the time asked me to try out for the news department. So one day I went to the radio station and spoke to the then news editor, Peter Ofoe Diogo. When I told him I wanted to join the news team as a reader, he told me that there was no money to pay me.”

“I told him that since I had no prior experience, I was prepared to learn on the job and so I understood if there was no money to pay me. So he asked me to come in the following Monday, since it was on a Friday that I went there. I went there and I was made to read through scripts in the mornings, but not on air, before going to the computer school for my classes in the afternoons.

This continued for the whole week until Friday, when Ofoe Diogo suddenly handed me a script and asked me to read the 10 o’clock news on radio,” he remembers. “He accompanied me into the studio and I did so. That brought out some senior members of staff to find out who I was. I also did the 12pm news and went off for my classes. Interestingly enough, I was struck down by malaria and so I had to stay at home the following week. During that time, LUV FM advertised on air for a sports presenter and asked for all those interested to present demos.”

“I was broke so I did not, but told myself that when I recovered and went back to LUV FM, I would continue to work in the news department even though I was very interested in doing sports presentation. When I recovered, I went back and again did two news bulletins. After the second one, the then Controller of Programs, Cox Tamakloe, called me into his office and asked me whether I was interested in applying to be a sports presenter.

I said yes and so he asked me to understudy the sports presenter on the morning show at the time, Henry Amankwaa. I did so the following day and prepared to do the presentation the following day with Henry on the morning show. It was the morning show host at the time, Seth Opoku Opare who nicknamed me Christopher Columbus just before I went on air. So that was how I started. After my debut presentation, the then programmes manager, Dusty Wayne (of blessed memory) offered me a part-time job as a sports presenter, and that was it.”

Well, since that day in August 1998, Opoku has barely looked back or relaxed, bar a three-month hiatus in

“My mom was a special woman and I guess my one regret is that she is not alive today to see my family and what I have become”

2001 as well as a two-year period (2004-2006) when he was away from the country.

Opoku has risen to become one of Ghana’s most recognizable media faces and voices. Listen to him run commentary, watch him engage in punditry on TV, or read any of his write-ups, and it is almost impossible to determine which art he handles most proficiently. No need to, though, in Opoku’s opinion.

“I think I have adapted to all three very well,” he proffers with a wide smile. “I started out on radio, did TV, and moved into print. I believe that is what makes you a complete journalist and, thankfully, I do a fair job at all three.”

Nevertheless, it has not been all rosy for Opoku in his career. As he readily admits, there have been a few rough incidents, especially during his early days on radio while he learnt the ropes of the job. Two readily come to mind.

“I remember running commentary in Koforidua at a league game between Asante Kotoko and Suhum Maxbees. At the time, Hearts of Oak were playing away to Dawu Youngsters. I was misinformed by someone that Dawu had taken the lead against the Phobians and I recall saying loudly on air that unconfirmed reports had it so. As was later related to me, the joy that report sparked among Kotoko fans back in Kumasi was simply rapturous, only to realise not long thereafter that Hearts were in the advantage. Unfortunately, I cannot share the obvious repercussions I suffered for that gross error, but I certainly learnt lessons from that.”

As if that episode was not embarrassing enough, there also occurred an occasion when Opoku, in delivering a dose of foreign sports news on radio, mentioned Italian legend Roberto Baggio as being involved in a serious car accident and his vehicle “sustaining serious injuries.”

Opoku laughs, even as he recalls these absolutely amusing incidents, yet he is quick to point out that they have indeed helped him pay a lot more attention to what he does.
And while he might have lost count of just how many games he has seen in the course of his work, having been at it for so long, a couple of distinguished individual performances he has witnessed clearly stands out. He recounts two of the most memorable, incidentally involving two former Asante Kotoko stars.

“The first was Baba ‘Armando’ Adamu’s first game for Kotoko in Kumasi, against GHAPOHA. Kotoko won 3-0 and Adamu was simply brilliant on the day. The other was Charles Taylor’s first league game for Kotoko against Tano Bofoakwa in Sunyani. He scored a brilliant individual goal and linked up so well with Isaac Boakye that I remember saying he made the then GH¢125,000 record transfer fee paid for him by Kotoko seem ridiculously cheap.”

As a journalist, Opoku has covered a host of major international tournaments, including the African Youth Championships hosted (and won) by Ghana in 1999, the Nations Cup organized a year later, and that of 2008. He laments, though, never having covered a Fifa World Cup, missing the 2006 and 2010 editions due to his absence from the country and his wife’s scheduled delivery respectively.

Surely, he would love to make an appearance at Brazil 2014 should Ghana qualify, no?
“Yes, I would love to,” Opoku replies, “but in the end, it is all about opportunities. I just hope God makes a way for me. I can only dream, pray and hope.”

There’s more to Christopher Opoku’s story, though. Watch out for part two on Friday.

Christopher Opoku’s career in television commentary, for which he is probably best known, has seen him work with a host of co-commentators, of whom he singles out two for special praise: dreadlocked coach-turned-journalist Nana Agyemang whose astute tactical and technical knowledge our interviewee acknowledges to have benefitted greatly from, and GBC prospect Benjamin Willie Graham who Opoku describes as “potentially one of Ghana’s best commentators one day without a doubt.”

There are a few other journalists who Opoku regards in a similarly elevated light but in slightly different capacities: veterans Moses Foh Amoaning and Karl Tufuor as good friends and mentors; the likes of Gary Al-Smith, Jerry Ayensu, Godfred Akoto Boafo, Nathan Quao, Albert Ababio and Sammy Bartels as “talented individuals who he feels privileged to have worked with and all of whom have gone on to great things” and England’s Martin Tyler as the one commentator in the world he’d be absolutely delighted to team up with in the press box.

“RABBLEROUSER”

Over the years, Opoku has moulded a characteristic style for himself; an occasionally abrasive, say-it-as-it-is approach that hardly pleases everyone and has seemingly earned him more abuse than plaudits. Little wonder, though: his current Facebook profile describes him, among other things, as an “official rabble-rouser” and the 38-year-old regularly strives to live up to that tag, much to the displeasure of some. Opoku couldn’t care less, though.

“I deem it a part of the job,” he says with much pride. “And I wouldn’t change for anything, because I have retained respect from even those who would attack me verbally in public. So, sorry critics – I’m not changing anytime soon in that regard.”

OFFICIAL RABBLE-ROUSER | Opoku says it as it is

Opoku’s style appears especially daring, even commendable, in an era when Ghanaian journalists face considerable challenges with respect to free speech and access to credible information, as he himself explains in some detail.

“There is a lot of intimidation from the powers-that-be when you are a journalist who tries to be objective. Sometimes you face threats and temptation. Some will try to buy your silence and others will simply refuse to speak with you. I just think as journalists we should not bow to the whims and caprices of such people for that is the only way a good reputation can be built.”

Rather than feel victimized, however, Opoku considers his work fairly appreciated, if the awards he won as Best Football Commentator and Best Football Journalist (PLB) in 2008 and 2009 respectively are anything to go by.

CANCER

Almost a year ago, Opoku suffered what might well be considered the worst episode in his life, probably even worse than being bereaved of his mother several years prior. Just when he appeared to be savouring the joys of his chosen profession and enjoying life as a family man, a diagnosis of rectal cancer – of the malignant sort – hit him hard almost out of nowhere, and at a time his wife was heavy with the couple’s third child. Cancer, after all, hasn’t ever been the easiest foe for anyone to contend with. It has taken down many, and Opoku, fully conscious of that fact, quite reasonably feared the worst.

“My whole world was shattered,” Opoku says, with the visible chill with which he originally received the news. “Eventually I did the CT scans and my sister flew down to Accra so she could accompany me to see the surgical consultant. Before then, we wanted a second opinion and so I went to Kumasi to have a second colonoscopy. We later went to see a consultant in Accra who confirmed our worst fears, and recommended an urgent surgery to rectify the condition.”

And so it happened that, on September 24, 2012, Opoku went under the knife at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, but not without a great deal of hesitance for obvious reasons. The surgery did prove successful, though, but Opoku still had to endure several months of post-surgery therapy until he attained full recuperation sometime this year.

Partially to aid his recovery, Opoku had to make the tough decision of resigning from then employers Optimum Media Prime (OMP) and, just when he felt he might have to endure the life of a jobless man/family head for a while, broadcast houses MultiTV and [later] GTV came asking. Opoku, ever the religious man, attributes those timely employment opportunities to “the hand of God.”

I wouldn’t change for anything, because I have retained respect from even those who would attack me verbally in public. So, sorry critics – I’m not changing anytime soon in that regard

Opoku, of course, is wholly hale and healthy now and going about life as before, yet he would be the first to admit he wouldn’t have been able to make it through the hard times his illness ushered all on his own. And so he draws a long list of people to whom he believes he owes considerable degrees of appreciation, a few of whom get a mention here:

Vivian, his long-suffering spouse who stuck with him even while she endured labour pains herself; Dr. Joseph Yorke (KATH), who operated on him; his sister, herself a medical doctor; Michael Katahena, a colleague journalist; editors William Selasi Adjagogo and Theophilus Yartey of the Business and Financial Times; the staff manning the sports departments of Happy FM, MultiTV and GTV, among others.

For all his sickness-induced troubled experiences, though, Opoku believes he has only emerged stronger, determined to soldier on for all the reasons for which he is alive today.

MUSIC

Football aside, Opoku’s other lifelong passion is music – of the gospel genre, to be precise – a gift he believes was sub-consciously bequeathed to him by his deceased mum. Sometime ago he launched a nine-track album, entitled ‘Oye Mame’.

It didn’t exactly disappoint, did it?
“Not really,” he opines. “I’m yet unsure just how successful it [the album] was but, whatever the case, that is another part of my life people don’t really know about. As I mentioned earlier, my late mum – a singer – was an influence on me and so I naturally love to sing. I was a member of the KNUST Mass Choir during my time on campus and I have directed a few choirs in my time. If there is anything I love doing apart from football journalism, it certainly is music in church.”

GHALCA

Barely two months ago, Opoku picked up an appointment as Administrative Secretary of the Ghana League Clubs Association (Ghalca), and has busily been at it since. As he willingly concedes, though, operating in that capacity throws him right into Ghana football’s corridors of power, of which, as has already been explained, Opoku has been a committed yet constructive up braider of. Surely, he cannot anymore be as outspokenly critical of the system as he once was, can he?

“Well, honestly, I wouldn’t to some extent. I have already been told that it means I do not have a personal opinion anymore but I vehemently disagree with that. What it simply means is that I can no longer be publicly critical of Ghalca, since I am running the office now, but I will have to turn things around there. But that is it really. I will continue to be as objective as possible because at the end of the day, it is my reputation that means so much to me. So other issues that are non-Ghalca issues will be stuff that I will continue to comment on.”

Well, then, it seems the ‘rabblerouser’ hasn’t yet been robbed of his bite yet?

ALLEGIANCES

At this point, Goal asks which local football club is Opoku’s favourite, but he wisely steers clear of that subject, citing “personal reasons.” Like most Ghanaian journalists worth their salt, that -the identity of his preferred domestic outfit- is perhaps Opoku’s best-kept secret, and for good reasons.

He has no objections disclosing where his allegiance lie, however, with respect to European football. His choice, when he reveals it, is quite unambiguous: England’s Liverpool.
For those who follow Opoku’s sports-related tweets and posts on social media, though, that isn’t much of a surprise. As it turns out, Opoku’s love for the Reds springs from that day in 1984 when he watched them play AS Roma live in the European Cup final. He recounts the occasion with some nostalgia:

“I was almost 10 at the time. That is when I fell in love with the club and I remain a full supporter of the team, through the good and bad times.”

FINAL WORDS

To round up our interview, Goal inquires from Opoku just how he would like to be remembered when he finally departs the scene of Ghanaian football press.
“Well,” he replies, “if I can be recalled as someone who not only made a positive impact on our football, but helped bring others up as well, there could be no satisfaction greater.”

On the face of it all, one could only wonder if that desired legacy isn’t already starting to fall in place.

Two Zimbabwean journalists were arrested this morning over a newspaper report that described President Robert Mugabe as being “in bad shape” when he flew to Singapore for what the presidency said was a scheduled medical check-up.

The editor of the private NewsDay paper, Wisdom Mudzungairi, and the journalist who wrote the article, Richard Chidza, have been released from custody and must appear in court on Saturday.

Their lawyer Obey Shava said they had been charged with undermining and insulting the office of the president.

The article, entitled “ Mugabe in fresh health scare ”, quoted sources saying the president flew out of the country on a chartered flight at 02:00 local time on Wednesday morning.

Mr Mugabe turned 93 last month and has been in power since 1980.

According to the Associated Press news agency, people convicted of insulting Mr Mugabe can face jail time, though some cases have been thrown out.