The beatings or the assaults of AfiaPokua (aka ‘Vim Lady’), Shadrack Kofi Assan and Samuel Nana Sefa of Adom FM by some self-aggrandizement officials of Ablekuma District National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) on Thursday, September 11, 2014 are appalling and disgraceful to our nation. To wit, such barbaric manners should wake up all good patriotic Ghanaians to help defend and protect Ghanaian journalists to keep on offering us their awesome services, which add hefty values to the development of our own country.
Just as one would have thought the Kumasi beatings saga of Daily Graphic’s Daniel Kenu by BaffourGyan, elder brother of Black Stars’ captain, AsamoahGyan would not happen again, that was not to be the case. Although many Ghanaians have lost interest in journalists beating impasses due to the ‘out of court settlement’ in the case involving Kenu and BaffourGyan, still a large number of Ghanaians residing abroad are keenly following AfiaPokua’s court case. Would she also drop her case, courtesy from the powers that be? We are all watching closely from afar. And certainly, time will tell.
Hitting a lady repeatedly with a fist and dragging or pulling her firmly to the ground and into dirty gutters is not only barbaric, it’s as awful just as antiquated. Such act of impudence does not belong to a civilized nation like our beloved Ghana. Oh yea, not in this 21st Century of ours. In fact, this temperamental and mercurial conduct is too antiquated and should not be accepted in our well groomed society. Men who cannot swallow their emotions, anger and depend on their too feeble status just to bully the ladies and other men who are doing their daily services for Ghana should not be walking in our streets. In fact, they should not be rewarded to occupy any high position. They don’t deserve to be paid by the poor Ghanaian tax payer. Apprehending them and throwing them to serve time would be an ideal objective footage to serve as a deterrent for others occupying ‘big offices’ to emulate from.
The interest and development of Ghana should be the priority of every Ghanaian and until we respect the various institutions to work meaningfully, our marching forward could be a nine-day-wonder. Fruitless. But is that what we are working towards to accomplish? No, I don’t think thus. No one should resort to any political gimmicky or ruse to this important, yet too dicey issue because journalists have been beaten during the watchful eye of all Ghanaian governments.
This particular case has nothing to do with either NDC or NPP. But the painstaking truth is that whereas on the wrist watches of NDC, AfiaPokua alone has been whacked and beaten three times, this same affable lady got beaten two twice during the erstwhile NPP regime. Is it any good news for only one lady journalists to be beaten five times without any of her attackers going to prison? What type of radio, print, and electronic media sole proprietors or business men/women do we have in Ghana? Why can’t they protect and fight for their journalists?
If our judicial judges are not God fearing enough or courageous or honest to interpret the laws of Ghana to help punish these abuse men in Ghana, we shall all wake up one day and hear that somebody has beaten a journalists to death (may God forbid). Should we wait for an innocent soul to die before our leaders protect journalists or judges give stiffer punishments to the culprits? These miscreants must pay for their misdeeds.
It’s some few swollen headed and a few rich in our polarized society who think by virtue of their positions or pilfered wealth, they are not ready to be questioned by any journalists. They strongly abhor the truth of God. But I can assure them that if they don’t put an end to their personal ‘showmanship’, time would soon run against them. God will surely touch the hearts of some of our fine and noble judges one day to offer decisive punishments to these perpetrators. It might not necessarily be serving prison terms; but at least, they can be urged to sweep our streets, clean gutters, weed the bushes alongside Tema motorway or be mopping the floors of our hospitals for a number of weeks or months. But this can only happen if the back door case withdrawals due to incessant pressures are stopped.
Ghana cannot develop or function properly without our journalists. Having been dubbed the forth arm or branch of Ghana realms, they are as equally important as the executive, legislature, and judicial arms of government. Their duties help society to learn from the happenings of our communities and international communities as well and as such, we cannot frown on their informative, educative, and entertaining skills.
Through our journalists, we smile, laugh and acquire knowledge that could have been hidden from us. Casting the news bulletin or bringing us important information does not just come out of the blue, rather it comes as a result of the proactive and dynamic hardworking strategies of the Ghanaian journalists who have nothing to boost their morals and absolutely nothing to boast about. They ought to be offered commendations, not beatings and condemnations.
Freedom and independence of the media are all clearly enshrined and depicted in the 1992 Constitution thus it is perturbing seeing such atrocious brutalities unleashed to our noble journalists in Ghana. Upholding and respecting what’s written in chapter 012 and page 162 of our constitution is to appeal to National Medial Commission (NMC) and all the various stakeholders vis-a-vis owners of radio/television stations and the print media to refrain from the usual “out of court settlement” that dwindles the tempo of cases involving journalists who are maltreated one way or the other. Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) and Ghana Media Commission must allow our laws and institutions to work prudently and help protect the safety of all journalists.
Ghana is a democratic nation and thus no one should invite the antiquated ‘culture of silence’ that bedeviled our society and retrogressed the development of Ghana some years ago back into the current steadiness scene of Ghana. It is not mandatory for anybody to answer a question posed by any journalist and I think it would be far better for our ‘big men’ to take their ‘fifth amendment right’ than spewing replies that lead to antagonism, temperamental, volatile, and inflammatory.
Though it’s very dejected, I think this will make her and all Ghanaian journalists more stronger, affable, vociferous, and clamorous than to mute their passions. No person or group of persons or political party should make our journalists timorous or self-effacing because that could be as catastrophic just as it could retrogress the growth of Ghana.
This case and others have dented the image of Ghana and the earlier our leaders avert a possible future occurrence, the better it would be for our nation.
At this juncture, I am humbly appealing to the three arms of government (the executive, the legislature, and the judiciary) to enact and enforce laws that could protect our hardworking Ghanaian journalists. Additionally, our chiefs, pastors, imams, and political gurus ought to refrain from convincing victims of such brutalities or atrocities and coercing them to arrive at ‘out of court’ mantra, maxim, and the usual brouhaha. Let’s all allow the institutions of Ghana be as proactive as workable establishments.
Love your nation! Love Ghana!!
By: Isaac Amissah, New York.
[email protected]
Phone: 347.849.9393
