Be alert; heighten your security senses – GJA to journalists

President of the Ghana Journalists Association has admonished media practitioners to heighten their security senses with all urgency from the dangers associated with the field following the gruesome murder of investigative Journalist Ahmed Hussein-Suale.

Speaking with the media at a memorial held on Friday to immortalize the slain investigative journalist of the Tiger PI team, Mr. Affail Monney noted with severity that, the murder of Ahmed Suale is a wakeup call for journalists to “sharpen their sense of security” because their lives matter and are more valuable than their stories.

“As long as we expose corruption, as long as we hold people to account, our lives will be in danger. So this reinforces the need for all of us to be alert…to heighten our sense of security…and your life is more valuable than your stories.”

Journalists around the world have over the years been exposed to some dire consequences of executing their roles in society. In their bid to produce timely, edgy and accurate information, they face some daring and heart throbbing circumstances.

The recent murder of Ahmed Suale has just been added to the long list of journalists who have either lost their lives or been brutalized in their line of duty.

Ahmed was shot by unknown assailants in Madina, a suburb of Accra on Wednesday, January 16, 2019, while driving home. He was shot twice in the chest and once in the neck. Police reports say he died on the spot. No personal belongings of Ahmed were stolen, prompting suspicions it was a targeted murder.

No discrimination by GJA

Mr Monney also responded to critics who have taken issue with the GJA coming to the aid of Ahmed who was not a registered member of the body. He said the GJA was affiliated and modelled after the International Federation of Journalists - a body which does not discriminate between registered and non-registered members.

"We don't discriminate between registered and non-registered members of the association; we do not discriminate. The International Federation of Journalists which we are affiliated does not discriminate between a registered journalist or a non-registered journalist and we are affiliated to them," he said.

According to him, the GJA has professional solidarity with Ahmed's boss Anas Aremeyaw Anas and as such anything that affects Anas also affects the body.