The Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has asserted that his ministry has been consistent in its condemnation of attacks on media houses perpetrated by thugs affiliated with political parties.
His remarks come in response to the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), which expressed disappointment with Oppong Nkrumah’s statement regarding the assault on United Television (UTV) in Accra.
In a statement signed by the General Secretary of GJA, Kofi Yeboah, it was pointed out that the Minister had failed to directly denounce the attack on UTV.
The GJA deemed the Minister’s statement as lacking in decisiveness and criticized his attempt to justify the attack by mentioning alleged unauthorized entry by the assailants. They noted that the Minister himself had reported the incident to the police.
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.”