The Christian Council of Ghana has described the assault on some journalists at its Ablekuma office in Accra as unacceptable.
Three journalists from Accra based Adom FM were reportedly assaulted by officials of the Ablekuma office of the National Health Insurance Scheme(NHIS) for attempting to investigate complaints about delays from subscribers.
The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has interdicted two of its staff to allow for investigation into the incident.
The General Secretary of the Council, Rev. Opuni Frimpong says the act only weakens the country’s democracy.
“Our democracy is growing and media must play a key role. We weaken the media and we weaken our quest for good governance.”
[contextly_sidebar id=”3AWCmywoy14dCTaScG0RubZqSTqH7ZgT”]According to him there are different alternatives of having one’s concerns addressed than resorting to such violent means.
“There are so many structures for us to address whatever misgiving one may have. For instance, if you think something is not right, you have every right to issue a rejoinder, you have every right to appeal to National Media Commission [NMC], there are so many structures to the extent that one can even go to Court so if you feel that a media person is not doing something professional, or one is becoming irresponsible…just attacking them, and ceasing their equipment, maltreating them cannot be accepted,”he explained.
Meanwhile the Minority in Parliament is also asking for a collaborative effort to stop the assault on media men and women.
Speaking to Citi News, Mr Osei Kyei Mensah said “it’s certainly not the best and I believe that we need to come together to bring a halt to this.”
He said most of such “ incidents are borne out of people who really don’t understand the work of the journalists.”
“They look at them with very jaundist eyes and so we need to educate ourselves about what it is that what we are supposed to do to bring the matter to a closure.”
He also emphasized the need for journalists to be impartial in their reportage.
By: Marian Efe Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana