‘Your authority doesn’t extend to newsrooms’ — Reporters angry over threats to revoke media accreditation in Ghana’s Parliament

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There is widespread anger among journalists following threats by the Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament to cause a withdrawal of accreditation for the media for failing to cover the debate on President Akufo-Addo’s State of the Nation Address.

Journalists in parliament on Tuesday stepped out of the chamber following the decision by the Minority to abstain from the debate on the address in line with an earlier walkout.

The media, however, returned after interviews with the opposition MPs regarding their decision to abstain from the debate.

But Majority Leader Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu today took an issue with the action of the media with a reminder that their allegiance is to parliament and not individual MPs.

Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu agreed that journalists in parliament must focus on the chamber but argued the majority MPs did worse when they were on the other side.

Prof. Oquaye registered his disdain for the action of the media threatening to make them unwelcome guests should the episode repeat itself.

The development which did not go well with a section of Ghanaian media personnel took to social media to express their anger.

“Sad day for democracy… Are they editors?”, a seeming disappointed parliamentary correspondent with the Multimedia Group, Joseph Opoku Gakpo wrote on Facebook.

“And disappointingly, it had the blessing of the Minority leader. And no MP on the either sides of the house dared to stand up to draw the attention of the leaders that their authority doesn’t extend to the newsrooms”, parts of the text read.

A Media group, Free Media Vanguard has also joined the campaign describing the action by Parliament as “distasteful”.

A statement from Convenor of the group, Prince Minkah called on the media to resist such attempts.

Read full statement below

Free Media Vanguard Condemns Majority’s Attempt To Dictate To The Media On What To Report On From Parliament

As journalists continue to wrap their heads around various unresolved instances of attack on Media freedom in Ghana, Parliament becomes the new venue for fresh attack.

The Free Media Vanguard finds it a distasteful move by the Majority in Ghana’s parliament to instruct that the parliamentary press Corp should prioritize covering proceedings on the floor of parliament over press conferences that will be organized by the minority in the same house.

Free Media Vanguard is worried about this attempt to gag dissenting voices and move to dictate to journalists what they should feed their audiences from parliament.

We urge Journalists in the country to join hands and resist this attempt by the majority MPs in parliament.

Journalists, who constitute the fourth estate of the realm in our dear country, must be allowed to operate in an environment devoid of dictatorship.

Free Media Vanguard urges all journalists in Ghana especially parliamentary press corps to resist this dictatorship and arbitrary use of power.

God bless our homeland Ghana.

Prince Minkah
Convener
Free Media Vanguard

By Jonathan Ofori, Daily Mail GH