Akufo-Addo to journalists: Disseminate accurate information on economic challenges and recovery efforts

President Akufo-Addo has made a passionate appeal to journalists working professionally in the country to endeavour to put out accurate information through the media about the economic challenges facing Ghana and the efforts being made by his government to remedy the situation.

Journalists, President Akufo-Addo said, should not allow politicians to use their media outlets and platforms as avenues to score political, partisan and parochial points off the economic setback and the measures being implemented to address the impediments to a smooth life for ordinary Ghanaians.

Addressing journalists at the Ghana Journalists Association annual dinner night at the Ghana International Press Centre in Accra on Wednesday (21 December), President Akufo-Addo appealed to his audience not to give in to politicians who want to cash in on the broad economic crisis largely brought about by a global economic meltdown.

“I have an appeal to make of you, especially in the times that we find ourselves, where the dissemination of accurate information is so critical. As all of you know, we have had to seek the collaboration of the International Monetary Fund to repair, in the short term, our public financing.

“This collaboration with the IMF has meant that government on its part is having to implement difficult and painful measures to get our nation out of the situation where it finds itself,” President Akufo-Addo said.

“As natural as it should be, there will be those who would see it with narrow partisan lenses to spew untruths about these measures, with the ultimate goal of being able to misinform the Ghanaian people and creating disaffection for the government.

“I would urge you not to fall prey to the schemes of such persons. Information regarding the ongoing process is readily available from the Ministers of Finance and Information, and I entreat all of you to assist in this endeavour on the basis of the well-established principle of ‘facts are sacred but comment is free’,” the president told the journalists.

President Akufo-Addo stressed, “The rebuilding of a strong Ghanaian economy is at the heart of the several exercises the government is currently undertaking and, in order for my government to be successful, the recovery effort should be the responsibility of all of us.”

Development of journalists
President Akufo-Addo said that his administration has taken various steps with the aim of ensuring that journalists in Ghana receive training and other forms of support which can positively influence their work output and professionalism.

He commended the media for keeping his government accountable over its lifespan and for the strategic coverage they have given to the COVID-19 outbreak in Ghana since March 2020.

“I want to assure you that the government will continue to support the growth and development of the media and media practitioners,” he said.

“Government and the media have a responsibility to uphold these high standards (training, critical engagement of our society with the media, self-regulation and insistence on high media ethics and journalism standards).

“When we appreciate these imperatives, and discharge them faithfully, Ghana will be the beneficiary,” President Akufo-Addo said.

Murder of Ahmed Suale
On the murder of Ahmed Hussein-Suale, a Ghanaian investigative journalist and member of Anas Aremeyaw Anas’s Tiger Eye PI investigative crew, who was shot on 16 January 2019 in Madina, a suburb of Accra, President Akufo-Addo said the young reporter’s death continues to be a matter of regret to him, and particularly that the suspects are still at large.

He assured guests that as long as he remains president, he will ensure that the security services in Ghana pursue their inquiries into the matter until the criminals are brought to justice.

“I continue to be deeply regretful that in spite of the unceasing best efforts of the police, the perpetrators of the murder of Ahmed Suale are still at large.

“But I assure you that so long as I am president, this dossier will not be closed until hopefully, they are brought to justice,” President Akufo-Addo said.