ACCRA, Monday, October 9, 2023

The Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA), in no uncertain terms, condemns the invasion and attack on the presenter, panellists, and studios of UTV Ghana. This politically motivated attack against freedom of speech and the protections guaranteed the media in the 1992 Constitution of Ghana is another indicator of an increasingly intolerable political environment in our beloved country, Ghana.

We repeat our position that such attacks against members of GIBA and the media as a whole are barbaric and uncivilised and have no place in a country that prides itself as a beacon of democracy in Africa. We urge all stakeholders to use appropriate and available processes to resolve all differences.

GIBA demands the prosecution and appropriate punishment of the perpetrators of this dastardly act to serve as a deterrent.

Ghana cannot afford to descend any further on the World Press Freedom Index if we cherish this democracy that we are building.

We urgently call on all political parties and other groups to admonish their members to exercise restraint and not take the law into their own hand.

GIBA will continue to work with the Ghana Police Service, the Ministry of Information, the Ghana Journalists Association, the Private Newspaper Publishers Association of Ghana and all other stakeholders to bring to an end these incessant attacks on the media and press freedom in Ghana.

Signed:

Cecil Sunkwa-Mills

President