The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has a new six-member administration that was sworn in yesterday with a goal of advancing the welfare and security of journalists.
Albert Dwumfuor, the association's new president, described the swearing-in as "a new dawn" that will usher in significant measures, including as a journalists assistance fund, professional development, a pay structure for journalists, and a revision of the GJA's 2004 constitution.
The other executive members are Audrey Dekalu, Treasurer, Vice President Linda Asante-Agyei, General Secretary Edmund Kofi Yeboah, Organising Secretary Dominic Hlordzi, and Public Relations Officer Rebecca Ekpe.
The executive was sworn in as the association's leader for the upcoming year by Justice George Kingsley Koomson, a Justice of the Court of Appeal. Charles Benoni Okine, the organization's new Greater Accra Regional Chairman, also received the oath of office.
in the audience
Government officials, business and development partners, clergy, members of the Diplomatic Corps, as well as prior association presidents Gifty Afenyi-Dadzie, Ajoa Yeboah-Afari, and Ransford Tetteh, attended the ceremony.
The event marked the conclusion of a two-year battle over elections to choose new executives after the previous executives' terms had expired in 2020.
Transparency
Mr. Dwumfour thanked the GJA members in his inauguration speech for their support in choosing him and the other executives to lead the group.
He pledged to head an organisation that will be open and honest and represent Ghanaians' and journalists' interests. Now that the elections were done and a new government was in place, the GJA President urged association members to band together and support the repositioning strategy.
To advance the GJA, he declared, "We will need the viewpoint of everyone, notably my two esteemed senior colleagues and rivals in the election, Mr. Dave Agbenu and Mr. Gayheart Mensah."
Due to inactivity and a lack of urgency in addressing members' and the public's requirements, he added, the GJA has recently lost the favour of certain journalists and members of the public.
He promised journalists that things would get better.
updated constitution
According to Mr. Dwumfour, the GJA constitution review process was initiated by the previous administration. We pledge to keep up the review process, and with any luck, by year's end, we will have a new constitution that takes members' worries into account.
As a result, he urged all members to actively participate in the GJA constitution reform process.
Maintain Fund
The proposed Journalist Support Fund, according to Mr. Dwumfour, would provide legal services to journalists whose rights could be violated while performing their duties.
He declared that his government will look into scholarship options for professionals who might want to improve themselves or continue their study as part of the professional growth of journalists in the nation.
He mentioned a pay structure for practitioners as another significant problem that his government will address.
The GJA President stated that in order to improve the pay and working conditions of journalists, he would work with media owners and important stakeholders, such as the government, the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA), the Private Newspaper Publishers Association of Ghana (PRINPAG), and the National Media Commission (NMC).
He said that when there was trust-based collaboration between journalists and the public, the public was better served.
He said that "we must seek to increase the public's faith in the media as society's watchdogs" as a reputable organisation.
We'll launch the "see something, say something" campaign to accomplish this.
He urged the people to provide information to journalists in the public interest by reporting on it or providing it voluntarily, adding that the organisation will lead the push for the development of a stronger whistleblower statute to incentivize individuals to report crimes and misconduct.
Obligations
Regarding the responsibilities of journalists, Mr. Dwumfour stated that GJA members had a duty to always be truthful and devoted to the communities they covered, adding that only through excellent journalism could "we tackle our social problems."
He emphasised that journalists must uphold high levels of professionalism and abstain from false information, exaggeration, hatred, violence, and discrimination at all times since these things do not reflect the association's basic principles.
He revealed that the association's flagship event, the GJA national and regional awards, will be conducted in November of this year and that a committee to examine prizes would soon be established to guarantee a more fair process.