The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has charged security agencies in Ghana to handle attacks on journalists with the same seriousness as high-profile criminal cases.
Dora Baah, Programme Officer for Freedom of Expression at the Foundation, said the persistent lack of arrests and prosecutions is creating an enabling environment for violence against the press.
“And as long as this inaction continues, it creates an enabling environment for perpetrators to continue,” she warned in an interview with ABC News GH.
Baah stressed that the assault of media personnel should never be brushed off as mere occupational hazards.
Instead, they must be seen as direct attacks on democracy and national accountability.
She pointed to the February 2025 incidents where eight journalists were attacked—five during coverage of the Council of State elections in Ashanti, and three while reporting on illegal mining in the Breman Forest—as examples of targeted intimidation that demand urgent redress.
The MFWA says justice must not only be done but seen to be done, particularly in high-profile cases such as the recent assault on JoyNews journalist Carlos Calony.
The incident, which occurred live on television, involved individuals believed to be National Security operatives.
Yet, no concrete action has been taken by the authorities. Baah insists that unless perpetrators are arrested, prosecuted, and convicted, the cycle of violence will continue unchecked.
In addition to law enforcement, Baah emphasized the need for stronger national advocacy and coordination around press freedom.
“We need more concerted effort, mobilization, coalition building around this issue,” she said.
“The whole of Ghana must stand up and demand proper accountability.”
Her comments come amid growing concern that Ghana’s standing as a beacon of press freedom in Africa is being eroded by rising hostility towards journalists and weak institutional response.
