Ghana

(MFWA/IFEX) – On 28 July 2005, high court in Accra ordered the independent weekly, “National Democrat”, to pay Ghana’s Minister of State for Defence, Kwame Addo- Kufuor, 400 million cedis (approx. US$44,000) in damages for publishing an article that the minister considered defamatory. The court also awarded 10 million Cedis (approx. US$1,100) in costs against […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – On 22 July 2005, a crew from TV Africa, an Accra-based independent television station, was arrested and detained for about two hours by security personnel at President John Agyekum Kufuor’s private home. The crew members said they were verbally abused, and one reporter had her identity card removed clumsily and was prevented from […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – On 4 July 2005, an Accra high court sentenced Frank Boahene, editor of the independent “Free Press” newspaper, based in Accra, to 15 days in prison for contempt of court. Two of the newspaper’s directors, Claude Decker and Thomas Kpakpo Thompson, also received the same sentence. The charge of contempt arises from the […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – On 21 April 2005, Emmanuel Duah, a reporter with the privately-owned radio station Happy FM, was beaten with clubs and stones while covering a by-election in Aboabo-Adukrom, in Ghana’s Ashanti region, about 270 kilometres from the capital, Accra. Duah’s assailants beat him until he fell unconscious. He was rushed to City hospital, where […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – A High Court in Accra has ordered the independent weekly “Ghana Palaver” to pay Ghana’s minister of state for works and housing, Hackman Owusu Agyeman, 1.5 billion cedis (approx. US$165,000) in damages for publishing an article that the minister considered to be defamatory. The newspaper and one of its reporters, Ekow Essuman, were […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – On 17 March 2005, Evans Mensah, a reporter for Joy FM, an independent radio station in Accra, was assaulted by a group of demonstrators while covering a protest march in the city. The journalist, who was whisked away by the police to prevent the assault from continuing, was still attacked even in the […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – Less than two months before presidential and general elections in Ghana, radio stations operating in the Northern Region of the country have been banned from broadcasting “political” discussions, interviews and phone-in programmes. Deputy Minister for the Region Charles Bintim, who is also chairman of the Northern Regional Security Council (REGSEC), imposed the ban […]

(MFWA/IFEX) – The following is a 7 September 2004 MFWA press release: The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), a press freedom advocacy organisation, is seriously dismayed by the decision of the management of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) to interdict the Director of Ghana Television (GTV) and four journalists over a news item concerning […]

(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) – The following is an ARTICLE 19 press release: ARTICLE 19 today published an analysis of the draft Right to Information Bill of the Republic of Ghana. ARTICLE 19 welcomes the draft Law and regards it as a positive step to advance freedom of expression and information in Ghana. The draft Law contains […]

(IFJ/IFEX) – The following is a 2 August 2002 IFJ media release: IFJ Warns Government Over Death Threats to Editor-in-Chief in Ghana The International Federation of Journalists today called on the Government of Ghana to take “urgent and immediate steps” to secure the safety of Kweku Baako, Editor-in-Chief of Crusading Guide, following two death threats. […]

(CPJ/IFEX) – In a 2 April 2002 letter to President John Kufuor, CPJ expressed its alarm over the fact that his government has imposed controls on reporting about recent interclan clashes in the northern Dagbon area of Ghana. On 30 March, Minister of Information Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey stated that unless journalists are writing about an official […]

(IPI/IFEX) – In a 13 December 2001 letter to Ghanaian President John Kufuor and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers, IPI expressed its deep concern about the plight of staff from the Liberian “New Democrat” newspaper who are currently seeking refugee status in Ghana. According to the information provided to IPI, the following […]

(WAJA/IFEX) – On Friday 27 July 2001, Ghana’s parliament unanimously repealed the Criminal Libel and Seditious Laws, which had been used to incarcerate a number of journalists in the past. The repeal follows the passage of the Criminal Code (Repeal of the Criminal and Seditious Laws – Amendment Bill) Act 2001 by a unanimous vote […]

(WAJA/IFEX) – The bill to amend the criminal libel and seditious laws in Ghana entered its second stage in parliament on Tuesday 24 July 2001. The proposed amendment seeks to repeal chapter seven of part two of the 1960 Criminal Code (Act 29), which covers criminal libel. Section 182A of the Criminal Code, which grants […]

(Free Expression Ghana/IFEX) – On Monday 16 July 2001, media professionals from the SKY FM radio station in Sunyani, in the Brong Ahafo region of Ghana, were severely manhandled by a mob claiming to be angry football fans. The journalists and some staff of the non-governmental organisation Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG) were returning […]

(WAJA/IFEX) – The following is a 16 June 2001 WAJA statement: IMMIGRATION AUTHORITIES CANNOT LOCATE LIBERIAN JOURNALIST The immigration authorities say they have no idea about the whereabouts of Liberian journalist Ambrose Darrul Nmah days after he was expected to have left the country. He had been asked to leave Ghana for overstaying the period […]