The leadership of the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA) has commended the General Secretary of the NPP, John Boadu, for his outstanding organisational and administrative acumen and discipline in managing the affairs of the party. According to the President of the Association, Affail Monney, the NPP chief scribe has been exceptional in his leadership of the party in diverse ways. “Your name will occupy a special space in history for leading your party from opposition to government and for the exceptional traits you continue to show in managing the affairs of the party. You are an inspiration to a lot of us”, Affail Monney observed.
This transpired when the GJA executives paid a courtesy call on him on Monday, October 28, 2019, to, among other things, officially invite the NPP to participate in activities marking the 70th Anniversary of the GJA, particularly the climax of the celebrations to be held on November 23, 2019 at the Kempinsky Hotel, Accra. The executives used the occasion to wish John Boadu a belated happy 50th birthday and wished him well going forward.
The GJA President, who led the delegation, said, the GJA recognizes the role of political parties as building blocks for our democracy hence the need for all democratic institutions like the GJA to involve these parties in their activities. This, according to him, is what inspired the decision by the GJA to extend an invite to political parties in the celebration of its 70th Anniversary. On the safety of journalists, the GJA President asked the governing NPP to do more to assure the safety of journalists which is an essential prerequisite for guaranteeing press freedom.
On his part, the General Secretary thanked the GJA executives for the gesture and assured them of the NPP’s readiness to not only participate in the activities to mark their 70th Anniversary but also to provide the needed support to the Association in the organisation of their programmes to make the celebration a memorable one. He touted the unrivaled record of the NPP as the party that has done so much to promote media freedom and plurality in the country and proceeded to mention some of the landmark achievements of the party including the famous repeal of the Criminal and Seditious Libel Law, the establishment of a Media Fund and the passage of the Right to Information Act among others to back his claim.
While assuring the GJA of the NPP’s continuous determination to ensure the safety of journalists, John Boadu also called on the security agencies to deal with cases of abuse on journalists and indeed on any person as purely criminal matters and deal ruthlessly with perpetrators of such acts regardless of their affiliations and stature in society. The NPP, he said, will NOT shield any of its members found at the wrong side of the law in view of the party’s strong founding principles and values.
John Boadu also challenged members of the inky fraternity to be truthful in their reportage and bemoaned the rising abuse of the freedom of speech and expression particularly on social media. He then used the occasion to once again expose the falsity and absurdity of a letter which recently made rounds on social media purportedly emanating from the NPP, bearing a fake signature said to be Sammi Awuku’s and addressed to the National Security Minister on a purported training of a special taskforce for election 2020.
John Boadu then took on the NDC’s Presidential Candidate, John Mahama (H.E), whom, he said, made comments accusing the NPP of scheming to cause mayhem in election 2020 on the basis of this fake news which he suspects emanated from the camp of the NDC for political expediency. To this end, he called on Ghanaians to ignore John Mahama’s rantings and desperation in the face of his imminent humiliating defeat in election 2020.
Story by Alhaji Iddi Muhayu-Deen
