Mahama Announces Forum to Educate Security Agencies on Media Freedom

President John Dramani Mahama has announced plans to establish a platform that will bring journalists and security agencies together to promote mutual understanding and respect for press freedom.

The President said the initiative, to be institutionalised in collaboration with the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), will focus on educating security officials to view journalists as partners in national development rather than adversaries.

“Educate and create awareness that journalists are not enemies. They are reporting something that is happening, and so they must be given a free leverage to be able to do their reporting,” President Mahama stated.

He made the remarks when a delegation from the GJA paid a courtesy call on him.

The President expressed concern over Ghana’s steady decline on the World Press Freedom Index, attributing it largely to the harassment of journalists and high-profile attacks, including the murder of investigative journalist Ahmed Suale.

“We’ve seen a consistent decline in our international rankings, and that is an issue of concern for us. Part of it is because of the harassment of journalists and even the unfortunate murder of Ahmed Suale, which caught international attention. Since then, other incidents have further diminished our ranking,” he said.

President Mahama stressed that ending impunity for attacks on journalists was crucial if Ghana was to reclaim its reputation as a leader in media freedom.

“We need to ensure that people, when they do that kind of thing, face sanctions or are punished because once there’s no deterrent, they continue to do it. We’re going to work together with you to make sure that we improve our rankings again so that Ghana resumes its pride of place as the beacon of media freedom, not only in West Africa but in the whole of Africa,” he added.

The planned forum, according to the President, will serve as a structured dialogue platform and training avenue to bridge the gap between the media and security agencies, ensuring journalists can operate without fear or intimidation.