Ghana

(MFWA/IFEX) – On 23 January 2007, a High Court in Accra threw out charges against Western Publications, publishers of the “Daily Guide”, a pro-government daily newspaper, its managing editor, Gina Blay, and news editor, Abdul Rahman Gomda, accused of defamation by an opposition politician, Charles Kofi Wayo. The court, presided over by Justice Iris Brown, […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – On 12 December 2006, the former First Lady of Ghana, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, appealed against an Accra High Court ruling that exonerated Western Publications Limited, publishers of the privately-owned “Daily Guide” newspaper, managing editor Gina Blay, and former deputy editor Ebenezer Ato Sam of defamation. According to Nana Agyeman Rawlings, the trial […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – Alfred Ogbamey, managing editor of the “Gye Nyame Concord”, and Samuel Asamoah, a reporter for the newspaper, were prevented from covering a press conference by the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) on 4 December 2006. The press conference had been called by the GPHA in response to a teaser carried in the […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – On 16 November 2006 an Accra high court exonerated Western Publications Limited, publishers of the privately-owned Accra-based “Daily Guide” newspaper; its managing editor, Gina Blay; and its former deputy editor, Ebenezer Ato Sam, of libel charges brought against them by the former first lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings. The court, presided over by […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – Christopher Serlom Adzivor, Volta regional correspondent of “The Independent”, a tri-weekly Accra-based independent newspaper, was violently attacked and detained on 11 November 2006 by Lance Corporal Badu, a police officer at the Ho municipal police station. The journalist alleges that Badu ordered the inmates in the police cells to “teach him a lesson”, […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – On 10 November 2006, in Ada Foah, located in the Dangbe West district of Ghana’s Eastern region, some 27 journalists were heckled and mistreated by armed policemen while covering a press conference. The policemen, numbering about 13, consisted of members of a special “Buffalo Unit” in Tema, a city adjoining Accra, as well […]

(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) – The following is a 10 November 2006 ARTICLE 19 press release: Blood Diamonds: Ghana Must Embrace a Higher Standard of Openness ARTICLE 19 supports the initiative taken by the Kimberley Process members this week at their annual meeting in Botswana, to put Ghana on probation for the certification for export of illicit […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – On 2 November 2006, a group of journalists covering the trial of suspected drug criminals in an Accra regional court were threatened and insulted by sympathisers for taking photographs of the suspects. Florence Gbolu, of the Accra-based independent daily newspaper “The Chronicle”, told MFWA’s correspondent that the sympathisers attacked reporters when some of […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – On 19 October 2006, Emmanuel Opoku, a reporter with the “Daily Guide”, a privately-owned daily, was prevented by a group of ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) supporters from covering a press conference in the Western Region. He was accused of biased reporting. The journalist alleged that he was manhandled and insulted by the […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – Lawrence Addo Kyeremeh, a reporter for independent local radio station Happy FM, was violently attacked and detained on 26 September 2006 by five police officers at the police station in Kaneshie, a suburb of the capital, Accra. According to Kyeremeh, while two of the officers slapped him several times, two others insulted him. […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – On 21 September 2006, the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) threatened legal action against persons or groups of persons who physically attack journalists while they carry out their legitimate duties, because “the rising incidence of physical attacks on the media by individuals poses a serious threat to press freedom and the right of people […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – On 15 September 2006, David Tamakloe, a reporter with “The Enquirer” bi-weekly newspaper, was violently attacked by Mercy Anane, wife of Ghana’s minister of road transport, and four others, for allegedly taking pictures of her (Anane). The other assailants, three men who accompanied Anane and her sister, hit Tamakloe in the abdomen and […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – On 12 September 2006, Andrew Edwin Arthur, editor of ‘The Independent”, a tri-weekly newspaper in Accra, was chased by security personnel guarding the confiscated residence of Kwabena Amaning, a suspected drug criminal who is on remand for drug related offences. Arthur was chased away while taking a photograph of the confiscated mansion at […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – On 24 August 2006, Kwadwo Ababio, one of five suspected drug barons standing trial for alleged drug offences, threw to the ground and smashed the camera of Ms. Fidelia Achama, a reporter of the privately-owned daily newspaper “Daily Guide”. According to MFWA’s source, on the morning of the incident, while Ababio was being […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – Ebo Hanson, a photographer for the state-owned newspaper “The Daily Graphic”, was assaulted on 17 August 2006 by sympathizers of suspected drug baron Prince Tsibu Darko, who is standing trial for alleged drug offences. The assailants slapped Hanson several times and beat him, before taking away his digital camera. According to an MFWA […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – On 21 July 2006, the President of the Musicians’ Union of Ghana (MUSIGA), Alhaji Sidiku Buari, filed a suit against Compuprint Ltd, publishers of the bi-weekly newspaper “People & Places (P&P)”, and its editor Joris Jordan Duodoo for alleged defamation. Alhaji Buari, a musician and also the acting chairman of the board of […]