Albert Kwabena Dwumfour, President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), has denounced recent assaults on journalists as deliberate criminal acts requiring severe legal consequences.
Speaking on Channel One TV’s The Big Issue with Selorm Adonoo, Dwumfour emphasized that such attacks are rarely spontaneous but pre-planned, warranting classification beyond misdemeanor offenses.
“These assaults are premeditated—perpetrators strategize their actions in advance. We cannot trivialize them,” he stated, urging authorities to treat these cases as grave crimes.
Dwumfour’s remarks follow two high-profile incidents within weeks. On July 17, a GHOne TV reporter was assaulted during the Ablekuma North parliamentary rerun. Days later, on July 30, JoyNews journalist Carlos Calony, his cameraman, and an eyewitness faced alleged aggression from armed military officers during a demolition operation at Spintex. The GJA president stressed that the calculated nature of such violence demands stricter punishments to deter future attacks.
The condemnation underscores growing concerns over press safety in Ghana. Dwumfour reiterated that targeting journalists undermines democratic accountability and called for systemic legal reforms to protect media professionals.
