GJA holds congress to discuss Constitution

Accra, Nov 13, GNA - The national congress of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) opened in Accra on Saturday to enable members to discuss how to advance the objectives of the association. High on the agenda is the consideration of the proposed amendments to the GJA constitution presented by the Constitutional Review Committee in February.

The GJA set up the Committee following recommendations at its Congress in September last year to update the constitution to reflect current developments in the media. Addressing the opening session, Ms Ajoa Yeboah-Afari, GJA President asked delegates to vigorously examine the document to allow for consensus building and enhance the internal democracy within the association.

"It is my hope that this will enable the association to possess a constitution that takes into account its current circumstances and addresses the possible challenges of the future," she said. Ms Yeboah-Afari expressed the hope that the absence of memoranda from members on the Draft might be a good sign that members did not have any serious complaints against its provisions.

Meanwhile, the GJA had decided to name the meeting room and seminar hall of the Ghana International Press Centre after Mr Kabral Blay-Amihere and Gifty Affenyi-Dadzie both former presidents of the association.

The meeting room will be called the Blay-Amihere Conference Room and the seminar hall as Affenyi-Dadzie Hall.

The honour is in recognition of the invaluable contribution of the two to get the press centre built.

Mr Kabral Blay-Amihere, Ghana's High Commissioner in Sierra Leone, said there was a need for a strong GJA to make democracy thrive in the country.

He said the government had proved beyond doubt that it was committed to press freedom by donating the edifice.

"We should see the building of the Press Centre as a symbol of press freedom, the independence of the GJA and the power to fulfil the mandate of the people," he said.

Mr Blay-Amihere asked journalists to strive for excellence and accountability in the discharge of their duties, Mrs Gifty Affenyi-Dadzie, the representative of the GJA on the National Media Commission, said the Commission was committed to the independence of the media and would ensure that such freedom was not taken away.

She thanked the GJA for the honour done them.

Mr Kwesi Cab-Addae, Chairman of the Constitutional Review Committee, urged journalists to be circumspect in their reportage and not falsify facts.