GJA president calls on government to protect journalists

President of the Ghana Journalists Association, Albert Kwabena Dwumfour, has emphasised the importance of governments being more committed to protecting the safety of journalists.

According to him, governments across the world must make conscious efforts to curb attacks and killings of journalists by prosecuting individuals who perpetrate crimes against the media.

Dwumfour made the call in a panel discussion at a two-day meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to commemorate this year's International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists.

The panel discussion was under the joint auspices of the Federation of African Journalists(FAJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) on the topic: 'Ensuring the safety and protection of journalists by addressing impunity: A responsibility for the world'.

"We need to push for the adoption of severe sanctions against states or governments that perpetrate harm against journalists.

"Leaders of such states or governments must be held personally liable for such crimes against journalists," he said.

His call comes in the wake of recent alarming attacks on journalists worldwide, including killings.

The GJA President was accompanied by the General Secretary, Kofi Yeboah, to attend the commemorative event whose highlights included the launch of the Virtual Scroll, a screen projection of the casualty profile of 1653 journalists killed worldwide between 1993 and 2023.

The victims include Ghanaian investigative journalist Ahmed Suale, who was killed in 2019 but whose killers have not been found, six years after his death.

MAG/MA