GJA Must Look Beyond Condemnation and Public Theatrics-Former GJA Chairman

MEMO
FROM: MAXWELL KUDEKOR – FORMER NATIONAL ORGANIZING SECRETARY
ASPIRANT/IMMEDIATE PAST EASTERN REGIONAL CHAIRMAN – GJA
TO: PRESIDENT – GHANA JOURNALISTS ASSOCIATION
CC: NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE – GJA
NATIONAL COUNCIL – GJA
GJA MEMBERS
DATE: WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2025
SUBJECT: MEDIA ASSAULT: RETHINKING THE STRATEGY BEYOND THE PUBLIC CONDEMNATION AND THEATRICS.
The Ghana Journalists Association issued an ultimatum to the Ghana Police Service to take punitive action against some persons including a senior police officer who attacked some journalists during the Ablekuma North Constituency by-election in Accra or face a total media blackout or boycott. The Association has also taken a bold decision to petition the diplomatic community on the development and submit names of security personnel involved in these attacks for the purpose of denying them visas and peacekeeping opportunities.
While I commend leadership for taking such a bold decision, I am tempted to pause and reflect over the decision to engage in a public tango with the Ghana Police Service especially at a time we ought to be more diplomatic in resolving the issues.
I dare say that, if we do not handle this issue tactfully, we may end up surrendering journalists covering the Akwatia By-election to danger.
Blackout of Police event? Will it be effective?
Let me acknowledge that, boycott is a major tool at our disposal, however, it may not work entirely with the Ghana Police Service. This is an institution which prevented all of its officers from talking to the media except the Inspector General of Police and an assigned senior officer in charge of Communication. This is an institution with a free to air television channel and active social media handles for the dissemination of information to it public. Our blackout may not be biting enough.
In actual fact, even though the Ghana Police Service needs the Ghanaian Media, the media needs them most, especially in crime reporting. The difficulty is that, most practicing journalists are not even members of the GJA, ensuring compliance would be a challenge. We have to rethink the strategy.
Will the Boycott Enhance Security of Journalists Covering the Akwatia By-election?
Obviously we cannot say yes if we continue to tango with the police. What if the police decide to also stay away from any incidentals involving journalists covering the Akwatia by-election? We must be tactful in our proactivity. I have covered several by-elections in Ghana and followed same.
The Akwatia Security Calculus: Lessons from Personal Experience
Our current adversarial posture with the Ghana Police Service poses existential risks to the safety of journalists during the September 2, 2025 Akwatia by-election. This election, necessitated by the death of MP Ernest Kumi on July 7, 2025, carries particular volatility given the constituency’s electoral history.
Having personally covered the contentious 2009 Akwatia re-run election—the very contest that brought Baba Jamal to Parliament—I witnessed firsthand the dangerous dynamics that emerge when political tensions intersect with inadequate security coordination. That election required a re-run in 6 polling stations on August 18, 2009, and the atmosphere was charged with allegations, counter-allegations, and heightened partisan emotions.
During that coverage, I observed how quickly situations can deteriorate when security protocols are unclear or poorly coordinated. The presence of unofficial taskforces, unidentified security operatives, and inadequate Journalists protection mechanisms created an environment where media personnel became vulnerable to intimidation and potential assault. The lessons from that experience are stark: when emotions run high and security arrangements are ambiguous, journalists become easy targets.
If we continue our confrontational approach with the Ghana Police Service, we risk creating a security vacuum precisely when our colleagues need protection most.
What should the GJA Do Immediately?
I believe in diplomacy but I also trust that diplomatic radicalism is allowed in some instances. The Ghana Journalists Association must:

1. Meet with the IGP and his team to discuss how to protect journalists covering the Akwatia by-election. (if that is not done yet)
2. Sign a pact with the Ghana Police Service to ensure that no journalist is
   assaulted, or intimidated at Akwatia.
3. Agree with the Ghana Police Service as the head of election security taskforce to ensure that, only uniformed men with name tags are allowed to provide security at Akwatia before, during and after the by-election
4. Encourage the police to prohibit all forms of taskforce/thugs parading and patrolling in groups either in vehicle or by foot at Akwatia
5. Ensure that journalists move in groups and if possible in a company of a uniformed policemen attached to the group. This can be done by zoning the constituency and ensuring that, each electoral area is headed by a senior police officer as IN-CHARGE of security. The IN-CHARGE would be responsible for the security of journalists in his jurisdiction and would be the first contact for the safety of journalists.
   Pacta sunt servanda. This pact when signed with mutual respect becomes a working document and would be binding on the parties.
   What about the perpetrators of the Ablekuma violence and Carlos Calony’s culprit?
6. The GJA should investigate and identify the officers involved by now if it has not been done.
7. The GJA should present the facts of the case to our legal team (if any) and seek advice
8. The names of all officers involved in the attacks must be published in the print and electronic media and online portals to serve as concrete evidence to the world.
9. The option of petitioning the diplomatic communities and embassies must be explored with the names of the officers involved.
   Thank You.