Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the minister of information, has said that his department has consistently denounced attacks on media organizations carried out by thugs connected to political parties.
The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), which voiced dissatisfaction with Oppong Nkrumah’s speech following the attack on United Television (UTV) in Accra, prompted him to make his comments.
It was noted that the Minister had not explicitly condemned the attack on UTV in a statement signed by Kofi Yeboah, General Secretary of GJA.
The GJA condemned the Minister’s attempt to rationalize the attack by referencing claimed improper entry by the attackers and found the Minister’s statement to lack decisiveness. They pointed out that the Minister had called the police and reported the occurrence.
The GJA also highlighted the disparity between the Information Minister’s response to the UTV incident and a previous incident where a journalist at Dagbon FM was assaulted by an NDC activist.
In response to these claims, Oppong Nkrumah defended his position on the Citi Breakfast Show, asserting that the allegations by the GJA were unfounded.
He explained that his ministry reports information as obtained from its monitoring centre and updates its stance as more information becomes available.
He further clarified that the ministry’s condemnation was in line with their previous responses to attacks on media houses and journalists.
“My view is that I think we have been consistent, we don’t need to break ranks, we need to put the attention where attention needs to be put [and] that is prosecution and the courts, that we stand together with them and we use them to ensure that there is deterrence.”
