Coordination Mechanism To Protect Journalists In The Offing - Hadzide

Government has commenced discussions on establishing a national coordination mechanism on the safety of journalists in the country, Mr Pious Enam Hadzide, Deputy Minister for Information, has said.

He said government found attacks and assaults of all kinds on journalists unfortunate hence the initiative to manage and deal with such incidents.

Mr Hadzide said this at the second Ghana Journalists Association-Volta Awards in Ho held under the theme: “Media-Key Partner in Local Governance.”

The Deputy Minister for Information said government is not complacent though Ghana has overtaken Namibia as the safest place to practice journalism in Africa and that measures are being made to consolidate that gain and make it safer.

He said the theme for the awards dinner is apt adding that the Ministry would soon launch a Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives ( MMDCEs) time on radio to offer constituents opportunity to  engage their MMDCEs on local governance issues.

“The media is indeed a key partner in local governance and I will like to invite the MMDCEs to see the practitioners as their allies in local development and relate to them as often as expected, and it is in this recognition that the Ministry of Information under Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah will soon launch the MMDCEs time on radio initiative" he said.

Mr Hadzide said the initiative was to create platforms for the MMDCEs and their constituents to interact and offer the MMDCEs the opportunity to respond to questions and concerns of their constituents through phone in sessions.

He said the media is the life line of democratic development of every nation and that journalism serves as an impartial link between the governor and the governed and called for support for journalists and media practitioners.