DW seeks justice for reporter assaulted by army officer

Deutsche Welle (DW), the German public international broadcaster, is seeking justice for one of its journalists, Yussif Abdul Ganiyu, who was allegedly verbally and physically assaulted by a female soldier.

In a letter to Ghana’s Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the Head of DW’s Corporate Communications, Christoph Jumpelt, stated Mr Ganiyu was attacked by the soldier in the line of his lawful duty.

“While recording an interview outside the St. Patrick Hotel in Kumasi, he was verbally attacked and then beaten by a female soldier. In the process, the soldier even tried to arrest Mr Ganiyu. When Mr. Ganiyu asked on what basis she wanted to arrest him, the soldier gave Zuria FM’s previous reporting on alleged misbehaviour of members of the military as the reason,” the letter read.

The female soldier who is alleged to have assaulted Yussif Abdul Ganiyu, who is also the General Manager of Zuria FM, DW’s partner station is 2nd Lt. Betrot Ampoma.

She belongs to a unit of the military patrol team working on the enforcement of the anti-corona lockdown, otherwise known as ‘Operation COVID Safety’.

The German broadcaster noted that the incident happened on April 5, 2020, at Akrem in the Asokore Mampong Municipality of the Ashanti Region.

DW’s letter appealed to the Information Minister to kindly investigate the incident and bring the soldier in question to book.

Christoph Jumpelt, also, demanded that all journalists in Ghana should be free to do their professional duties.

"Freedom of expression and the freedom of the press must be ensured,” the DW letter stated.

Read below DW's letter to Oppong Nkrumah

The Hon. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah

Minister of Information

of the Republic of Ghana

Accra

Ghana

Honourable Minister,

We would like to call your attention to an incident which occurred yesterday, April 5th, in the Akrem in the Asokore Mampong Municipality, involving Deutsche Welle’s reporter Mr. Yussif Abdul Ganiyu. Mr. Ganiyu is General Manager of our partner station Zuria FM and a correspondent for DW’s Hausa program.

Mr. Ganiyu confirmed to us what has already been reported by several Ghanaian media outlets. While recording an interview outside the St. Patrick Hotel in Kumasi, he was verbally attacked and then beaten by a female soldier. In the process, the soldier even tried to arrest Mr Ganiyu. When Mr. Ganiyu asked on what basis she wanted to arrest him, the soldier gave Zuria FM’s previous reporting on alleged misbehaviour of members of the military as the reason. The soldier in question is 2nd Lt. Betrot Ampoma. She belongs to a unit of the military patrol team working on the enforcement of the anti-corona lockdown.

With this, Honorable Minister, I am kindly seeking your valued assistance in having this matter investigated and making the responsible persons accountable. We demand that all journalists in Ghana can freely exercise their professional duties. Freedom of expression and the freedom of the press must be ensured.

I am looking forward to your response.

Yours sincerely,

Head of DW’s Corporate Communications, Christoph Jumpelt.

Head of Corporate Communications and Spokesperson

PR and Communications