GJA got it wrong

-Info. Minister calls for united front against attacks on media

Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has rejected accusations leveled against him by the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) saying it lacks merit and not backed by facts.

He provided facts to establish that GJA did not conduct thorough due diligence before leveling the unfounded accusations.

He stressed that the ministry’s condemnation was in line with their previous responses to attacks on media houses and journalists.

GJA accused the Minister of failing to directly denounce the attack on United Television (UTV).

The GJA also alleged 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.

Descriptions of incidents

In response to GJA’s accusations, Oppong Nkrumah pointed out that descriptions in the Ministry’s statements in respect of attacks on media are based on reports received from the victims.

He explained that his ministry reports information as obtained from its monitoring centre and updates its stance as more information becomes available.

According to him, the Ministry shares with the public the reports received and therefore, such descriptions are not determined by his Ministry.

“Contrary to the claim that we described the incidents differently, if the GJA had taken time to read the four statements issued so far he would have realized that we never labeled any incident. We shared with the public the report we received.

“Where we received reports of assault we said so. Where we received reports of attacks we said so.

“Where we received a report of alleged unauthorized entry we said so. We have not been the ones to label any incident. So the GJA goofed on that.”

Call to presenter

In respect of the claim that the Ministry did not call the presenter like they did in other incidents, Oppong Nkrumah said if the GJA had bothered to check, it would have realized that even the presenter acknowledged on air that he(Oppong Nkrumah) personally called her(the presenter) to enquire if she and the guests were harmed in anyway and offered to support.

In view of this, he wondered how GJA made such statements without checking the basic facts as required by standards of practice to ensure accuracy, fairness and balance.

No GJA executive reached out

He found it strange that no executive of GJA found it necessary to reach out to him to inquire about what actually transpired before issuing the unfounded statement.

Oppong Nkrumah pointed out that the GJA’s failure to conduct thorough due diligence before releasing their statement should not be countenanced.

Minister called IGP to report incident

“The GJA should also remember that it was actually me as Minister who called the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to make a report and ask for Police to intervene.

“The GJA should be collaborating with us to solve the problem instead of seeking to score points by attacking us,” he stressed.

With the above facts, the Information Minister emphasized that his Ministry’s response was appropriate given the circumstances of the UTV incident.

Oppong Nkrumah asserted that his ministry has been consistent in its condemnation of attacks on media houses perpetrated by thugs affiliated with political parties.

Several groups have condemned the storming of UTV studio Saturday evening by a group of young men and have demanded that the police investigate the matter and bring the perpetrators to justice.

A group claiming to be affiliated with the New Patriotic Party (NPP) allegedly stormed the UTV studios during the live broadcast of the United Showbiz programme on Saturday, October 7.

They agenda was to demand an apology from one of the panelists, Kwame Asare Obeng popularly known as A-Plus.

They claimed the musician-turned-politician had disrespected that party, President Akufo-Addo and Vice-President Dr Bawumia.

Shortly after the show commenced, a disruptive noise obstructed the proceedings leaving viewers surprised and concerned.

The show abruptly went off air, and in its place, commercials filled the screen.

Meanwhile, the Ghana Police Service (GPS) has since arrested a total of 16 people with respect to the matter.

According to a statement issued by the GPS, the arrest follows a complaint made by the Despite Media Group and Ministry of Information that certain people had invaded the studios of UTV.

The statement said the suspects are assisting with investigations into the said incident.