The Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, has expressed his alarm at the rapid decrease in the freedom enjoyed by the media in the country over the course of the past few years.
He stated that the freedom of the press has not been in the best of form over the previous few years, but the recent rankings terrify him and make the future of the country's democracy look dismal. He also stated that the rankings make him fear for the future of the country's economy.
According to Speaker Bagbin, Ghana's current standing on the press freedom index by Reporters Without Borders, which showed Ghana placing 62 out of 180 nations, is the worst performance in the past 18 years. The index was conducted by Reporters Without Borders.
These comments were made by the Speaker on Tuesday morning while he was paying a courtesy call on the management and personnel of XYZ Broadcasting at its offices in Osu, Accra. The visit took place on the day in question.
As examples of affronts to the democracy of the country, he cited the killing of undercover journalist Ahmed Suale, the arrest and incarceration of a staff member of XYZ, Oheneba Boamah Bennie, who anchors news on Power 97.9 FM, and the assault on Citi FM reporter Caleb Kudah.
He is of the opinion that governmental agencies that are supposed to safeguard the media are instead finding in recent years doing the bidding of persons in power and going after dissenting voices in the media, and he stresses that this is the reason why press freedom is deteriorating.
"We had been ranked 30th, but all of a sudden we fell all the way down to the 60th spot. It's a terrible shame. A nation that, as you mentioned, boasts that it is the democratic role model for all of Africa... According to Mr. Bagbin, "all of a sudden, serious attacks are being made on our media; free expression is on the decline, and all of these other things."
“…It is therefore concerning, and the purpose of this kind visit is to establish a forum in which we can all look through, talk, and investigate the ways in which we could combine our efforts to advance the media front.
"Even countries like Burkina Faso who are under a military rulers, you know, and gave banned local transmission of even international news, deporting foreign journalists and all what they are doing there– all forms of human rights abuses are still performing better this year than Ghana," he remarked in a worrying manner. "Ghana is not the only country that is doing better than Burkina Faso this year."
Speaker Bagbin mentioned during a conversation with the management of XYZ that his tour was also a part of the festivities to mark the thirty years of unbroken democracy that have been observed in Parliament, which began at the beginning of this year.
According to him, the part that the media plays in the development of democracy in the country is very significant.
In spite of the many losses that have occurred in the media business in Ghana, Speaker Bagbin has promised to work along with the appropriate state agencies to assist in reestablishing press freedom in the nation.
He hurried to insist that the job of the fourth estate of the realm should be permitted to be carried out freely and without interference from powerful persons in positions of power.
The Stopover
On July 11, the visit by Ghana's Speaker of Parliament provided the management of the media house with the opportunity to also conduct discussions that concern the topic of enhancing the relationship that exists between Parliament and the company.
The Chief Executive Officer of XYZ, Mr. Bernie Anti, who received Bagbin thanked him for the honour done to the company and used the opportunity to describe the operations of the brand to the Speaker while also highlighting some of the issues faced by the media house in his welcoming address.
He stated that the media house had been constant in its efforts to mould the consciousness of the nation and was willing to work for the people.
Since the beginning of the Fourth Republic, it has been recognised by the Speaker of Parliament that the media has played an important role in bringing attention to the work that is done in Parliament.
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