The award was presented at the Second GJA World Press Freedom Day Honours Night, held at the Alisa Hotel in Accra on Saturday, June 6, 2026, where leading media practitioners, policymakers, civil society actors and members of the diplomatic community gathered to celebrate individuals and institutions that have distinguished themselves in the promotion of press freedom and responsible journalism.

Presenting the citation, the GJA paid glowing tribute to Mr Anyenini’s distinguished career in journalism and law, describing him as a fearless advocate whose work has consistently advanced transparency, accountability and justice.

The association noted that “courage, integrity, and an unwavering pursuit of truth have become the defining hallmarks of your remarkable career in journalism and law.”

According to the citation, Mr Anyenini’s work in investigative reporting and legal journalism has played a significant role in exposing critical national issues, challenging impunity and empowering citizens to participate meaningfully in democratic governance.

The GJA further observed that beyond his contributions in the newsroom at the Multimedia Group Limited and courtroom, he had emerged as one of Ghana’s most dependable defenders of press freedom.

The citation highlighted his consistent support for journalists facing threats, intimidation, harassment and unlawful arrests in the course of their professional duties.

“Whenever journalists face harassment, intimidation, unlawful arrest or threats arising from their work, you repeatedly lend your voice, expertise and legal support to their defense,” the citation stated.

It added that many media practitioners across the country regarded him as “a trusted champion in moments of vulnerability and a steadfast guardian to their constitutional rights.”

The association said Mr Anyenini’s commitment to defending freedom of expression and upholding constitutional liberties had strengthened Ghana’s democratic institutions and reinforced public confidence in the media as a critical pillar of accountability.

Distinguished career

Mr Anyenini is widely regarded as one of Ghana’s most influential media personalities and legal commentators.

Over the years, he has built a reputation for incisive journalism, legal analysis and investigative reporting through programmes such as Newsfile and The Law on JoyNews.

His work has frequently focused on issues of governance, corruption, constitutionalism, human rights and the rule of law, earning him widespread respect within both the legal and media professions.

The GJA described him as “a distinguished journalist, lawyer and advocate whose work embodies the highest ideals of public service and has made a profound contribution to press freedom and democratic accountability in Ghana.”

Recognition

The award forms part of the GJA’s efforts to recognise individuals whose contributions have strengthened media freedom and democratic governance in Ghana.

World Press Freedom Day, commemorated annually, serves as an opportunity to celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom, assess the state of media independence and honour those who have made significant sacrifices in the defence of free expression.

As he received the honour to sustained applause from guests at the ceremony, Mr Anyenini joined a distinguished list of media and public figures whose work has contributed to safeguarding the freedoms guaranteed under Ghana’s Constitution.

The recognition, many observers noted, reflects not only his achievements as a journalist and lawyer but also his enduring commitment to ensuring that journalists can perform their duties without fear, intimidation or interference.

His comments follow a High Court judgment that found the Ghana Police Service liable for violating the rights of journalists and demonstrators during the #OccupyJulorbiHouse protest held in September 2023.

In a ruling delivered on Thursday, May 14, the Human Rights Division of the High Court in Accra entered judgment in favour of journalist Bridget Otoo and two other applicants in the case titled Bridget Otoo & 2 Others v. Inspector General of Police & Attorney-General, presided over by His Lordship Justice Nana Brew.

The court held that officers of the Ghana Police Service engaged in unconstitutional conduct during the protest, condemning the manner in which journalists and demonstrators were treated.

Under the ruling, the applicants are to receive GH¢100,000 in compensatory damages, GH¢50,000 in general damages, and GH¢30,000 in legal costs.

Reacting to the decision in an interview on Joy FM’s Midday News on Thursday, May 12, Mr Anyenini, who represented the applicants, said the award does not adequately reflect the severity of the violations suffered.

“Absolutely not, because the very least in our relief filed before the court was one million Ghana cedis,” he said when asked whether the damages awarded were punitive enough.

He noted that although the judgement affirms constitutional protections for journalists and protesters, the compensation falls short of what was sought.

“Whilst our clients are happy that their rights have been vindicated — press freedom, journalistic rights, and the right to work in safe conditions have been protected by the court — we believe it could have been better in terms of the compensation that ought to have been awarded,” he added.

Despite his reservations about the award, Anyenini said the court explained that imposing significantly higher damages on the police service could strain the institution financially and affect its ability to perform its broader public-security mandate.

He, however, maintained that stronger financial sanctions would have sent a clearer message against misconduct by security personnel and offered greater justice to victims of police abuse.

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His comment comes after reports emerged that some persons in a queue to vote in the Ayawaso West Wuogon constituency of the Greater Accra Region were given food packs, water and drinks by the incumbent MP for the area, Lydia Alhassan.

According to Mr Anyenini, “If a person commits the offence of treating, if he corruptly, either himself or through another person, before, during, or after an election, gives or provides meat, drink, and entertainment or provision, all for any person, it is a crime.”

He commented on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Wednesday, December 4.

He emphasized that the law is clear on this matter. “The law said a person commits the offence of treating if he corruptly, either himself or through another person, gives and provides drink, entertainment, and has to be done with a purpose.”

He explained that the offence of treating begins with the corrupt intention of influencing voters. “It begins by saying if you do corruptly, either by yourself or through some other person, so directly or indirectly, before, during, or after an election, if you are giving money, or you are paying for someone’s food or drink or meat, either you are paying in full or you are paying in part, you are committing the offence of treating, and that the law will catch you.”

Mr Anyenini also noted that both the giver and the receiver are considered corrupt. “If they bribe these people, they don’t bribe them with the hope that they are going to vote for someone else, but rather, when they bribe them, they pay them extra money.”

He concluded that the police may face challenges in prosecuting party officials due to the need for the Attorney General’s consent.

He prefers the office of the Special Prosecutor, which does not require the Attorney General’s consent.

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According to him, issues pertaining to the law can be very technical, and therefore, individuals must allow the law to take its due process rather than declare the Attorney-General guilty before the actual verdict.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Top Story on May 27, he said “At this stage, I think that we all ought to be cautious in proceeding with so much emphasis and been categorical about things that we can allow due process to unfold.”

His comments follow the increasing calls for the Attorney-General to be removed from office for his supposed involvement in the act.

Notable among the calls is that of the former Director of the Ghana School of Law and private legal practitioner, Ansah Asare, for the resignation of the Attorney-General, Godfred Yeboah Dame.

According to the legal luminary, Mr Dame is experienced and well aware of the law; therefore, meeting with an accused person to enter into a plea bargain in the manner that it has been reported raises questions.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Midday News, he explained that the Attorney-General is a lawyer for the state; therefore, it is not right for the plaintiff to meet the accused behind closed doors as he did.

“My candid opinion is that the learned Attorney General knows or is deemed to know the law. Apart from the judges, I think the other person we can say the law rests in his bosom is the Attorney-General.

“The Attorney-General ought to know where, how and when he has to meet accused persons and in the residence of a sitting justice of the Supreme Court, this is scandalous and the Attorney General must resign or the president must fire him,” he said.

However, Mr Anyenini argued that until Mr Dame comments on the matter, he should not be condemned.

The lawyer added that the basic principle is for a person not to be condemned unless they have been heard; hence, the Attorney-General must be heard to establish the facts of the matter before an unbiased verdict is reached.

“I say that we don’t have to continue endless debates and a media war which would not get anywhere. There has to be a constituted inquiry that takes over all of these matters and goes through the process in compliance with due process so that in the end, we will all be satisfied that the law has been followed.

“Somebody did wrong they have been punished, somebody did not do wrong, they have been discharged,” he added.

Richard Jakpa, the third accused in the ambulance purchase trial, that the Attorney General previously approached him to help build a case against the Minority Leader and former Deputy Finance Minister, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson.

Under cross examination by counsel for the Minority Leader, Jakpa was cautioned by the trial judge, Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe to be direct in his responses and avoid wasting the time of the court.

In response to the judge’s caution, Attorney-General Yeboah Dame accused Jakpa of defending the Minority Leader.

This accusation prompted Mr Jakpa to retort that the Attorney-General seemed aggrieved because he had previously failed to get him [Jakpa] to help the state build a case against Dr Ato Forson.

“The A-G has on several occasions engaged me at odd hours to help him make a case against A1 and I have evidence for that.. If he pushes me, I will open the Pandora’s box. I don’t understand why the A-G will accuse me of defending A1 when I’m here to defend myself,” Mr Jakpa said in court.

Subsequently, Spokesperson for the Department, Isaac Wilberforce Mensah, stated that during the time the meeting took place, Mr Jakpa was not represented by counsel. For this reason, the Attorney-General met him and a Supreme Court judge at the pre-negotiation stage.

Both the AG and the accused have threatened to release further evidence to fortify their cases. Other lawyers have also called on the right state institutions to investigate the matter since it has serious implications for justice delivery in the country.

This comes after Richard Jakpa, accused in the ambulance purchase trial, claimed that the A-G had previously approached him to help build a case against the former Deputy Finance Minister.

“The A-G has on several occasions engaged me at odd hours to help him make a case against A1 and I have evidence for that… If he pushes me, I will open the Pandora’s box. I don’t understand why the A-G will accuse me of defending A1 when I’m here to defend myself,” Mr Jakpa said in court.

“If he pushes me, I’ll open the Pandora’s box. I have evidence to all this,” he added on Thursday, May 23.

According to Samson Anyenini, the significance of the A-G’s position makes it impossible to allow such a development to slide without the necessary scrutiny.

He said this on JoyNews’ The Probe on Sunday, May 26, 2024.

Mr. Anyenini also emphasised that Mr. Jakpa may likely be aware of the judicial implications if the allegation is false, making it even more worth the probe.

“He may be frustrated, but to say the things he says and considering the consequences of the things he says, I would think that they are serious enough, warranting the attention of the right institutions,” he told Emefa Apawu.

The NDC has expressed concern over what it views as a clear case of persecution against Dr. Forson, who has been a prominent figure in opposing the current government’s policies.

The Attorney General in a statement insisted that “The Republic has never required or desired the cooperation of any of the accused persons in the matter, in which it has already succeeded in establishing a prima facie case against all the accused persons.”

“Neither the Attorney-General nor any officer from the Office of the Attorney-General has approached any of the accused persons with the view to obtaining evidence from them.”

In the statement signed by Deputy Attorney-General, Alfred Tuah Yeboah, the office rather pointed to Mr Jakpa of being the one who “by various letters” on multiple occasions “proposed to the Republic through the Attorney-General to engage in plea bargaining or plea negotiations. This plea bargaining proposal has, to date, not been accepted by the Attorney-General.”

Speaking on the Super Morning Show on Tuesday, December 21, 2021, he said the fight among the MPs on both sides of the House is a big embarrassment to the country.

“Clearly, this Parliament has lost it from the start. At the very beginning, how they got constituted, by way of setting up the Speaker or electing the Speaker and constituting the various Committees of Parliament, it was very clear that the sort of physical display which has been allowed is very embarrassing,” he said.

“The MPs are supposed to represent us but clearly they are not. It has been known for a very long time that our democracy has been sold to parochial partisanship, where you can’t have a single member disagree with their group and this clearly, is a big joke and a fraud on the voters,” he said.

Another concern he raised was with the events leading to the scuffle that ensued in the House, regarding the Deputy Speaker’s decision to count himself to fulfil the precondition for a quorum and vote. According to him, such thinking “is very problematic.”

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“I think the bigger question has to do with the lack of candour and integrity in interpreting the Constitution and standing orders of Parliament.

“It’s terrible to think that a person should be allowed to count themselves to form a quorum and must have the privilege to also count himself to cast a vote,” he stated.

Mr Anyenini also opined that Ghanaians have lost faith in the ability of MPs to fight for their (Ghanaians) best interest.

Following the National Democratic Congress’ unwillingness to accept the results of the elections as declared by the Electoral Commission on December 10, the NDC submitted their election petition to the Supreme Court today, December 30.

Prior to the submission, the NDC had claimed that their candidate, former President Mahama had won the elections and as such should be declared president-elect.

However, going by his petition today, Mr Mahama states that neither candidate won the election but rather, the votes obtained by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate, President Nana Akufo-Addo and himself in the December 7, election as declared by the EC Chair were not enough to declare the winner.

“The claim that percentage of votes obtained by the 2nd Respondent [Nana Akufo-Addo] was 51.595% [6,730,413] of the total valid votes that she distinctly stated to have been 13,434,574 was a manifest error, as votes cast for 2nd Respondent would amount to 50.098% and not the 51.595% erroneously declared.”

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Commenting on the former President’s address at a press conference this evening, Lawyer Samson Anyenini indicated that owing to the fact that the details of the petition will be subjected to the scrutiny of the highest order by the Apex Court, it was essential that former President Mahama present a case that will survive superior argument.

Speaking to Israel Laryea on Joy News Prime, Mr Anyenini stated: “They’ve been talking about some of the evidence they have. They talk about [vote] padding and so on and so forth. That is their story and at this time, it is still their story. It will now go through the mill. It will be tested; tested in cross-examination tested in superior argument.

“If their evidence and argumentations survive the test of judicial scrutiny, then they will win. But if the opponents bring a superior argument it is also possible that they will not win”.

He continued: “We have heard words like ‘stolen verdict’, we have heard expressions like fictionalized and fraud those may not sit within the present suit, but when you hear claims that by the NDC’s own computation, [former] president Mahama had secured a win and that he ought to have been declared a winner.

“Then you read the petition and it says President Mahama did not win, Akuffo-Addo did not win because neither made nor crossed the threshold of more than 50% of total valid votes therefore there ought to be a runoff. That is a dramatic shift from what you see in the court.”

He explained that taking up the offer of working with Joy News would have meant leaving Kumasi in the Ashanti Region for Accra.

According to him, he couldn’t risk it because he was taking his Law degree programme at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

“There was no motivation to move,” he said.

The University of Ghana graduate disclosed that at the time JoyNews offered him employment, he was juggling his National Service obligation with Multimedia’s Luv Fm in Kumasi alongside his Law degree classes and a job with the BBC.

For Samson Lardy Anyenini there was too much at stake for him to just up and leave.

“Being fortunate to do my work at Luv FM, and working with the BBC, I quickly had enough to have my way to study Law, I had to move in-between work and school,” he said.

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Speaking to Joy News’ Aisha Ibrahim on PM Express Personality Profile, Mr Anyenini disclosed that he had put off studying Law once and he was not going to let that happen again.

For him, finding himself in Kumasi was the best thing that happened to him.

“While at Luv FM because I was set out to be a Lawyer I would go to law school during the day at KNUST. I joined them during the 2004/2005 academic year,” he said.

The legal practitioner, however, said in the pursuit of Law and media, he had to finally move to Accra to re-establish himself.

Samson Lardy Anyenini is currently the host of Newsfile on JoyNews with an established law firm to his name.