The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) have pledged to safeguard Ghana’s Constitution and democracy and to refrain from engaging in any activity that would undermine the people’s sovereign will.
According to Vice Admiral Seth Amoama, Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS), the GAF was focused on carrying out its mandate of protecting Ghana’s territorial integrity and had no interest in governance or politics.
“The coups in West Africa are a major concern, but, for us, we are resolved to protect the Constitution and the will of the people.
“We want to assure Ghanaians that the GAF is more focused on serving our duties as mandated. We think issues of coup d’état are matters of the past. Governance is not the business of the armed forces,” he said.
The CDS made the comments on Friday when the executives of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) paid a courtesy call on him in Accra.
He commended the Association for its contribution to national development and assured them of the needed support.
Vice Admiral Amoama expressed worry about unethical behavior by some journalists and requested that the media seek clarification from the military before publishing stories on them.
“I encourage the media to look at the positives regarding the armed forces, not just negative. We know that negative news sell, however, there are positive developments in the armed forces that can also sell,” he said.
He asked the media to report any unprofessional conduct by military personnel.
Mr. Albert Kwabena Dwumfour, President of the GJA, explained that the purpose of the visit was to strengthen ties with the GAF, discuss their vision, and solicit ideas.
He expressed worry over the treatment of the media during national events and pushed the GAF to be tolerant in its interactions with the media and civilians.
The GJA President stated that the association was in the process of launching an initiative dubbed “See something, say something to a journalist” to help security officers gather intelligence.
He advocated for training programs to provide journalists with security reporting knowledge to build positive military-media relations.
Mr. Dwumfour also encouraged the GAF to establish an editors’ network in order to promote a mutually beneficial forum for setting news agendas.
