The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has disagreed with the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) for suggesting that the media is complicit in undue attacks on the office.
Speaking at an event on May 7, the Director of Strategy, Research, and Communications at the OSP, Sammy Darko, alleged that some influential persons are behind sponsored attacks by individuals, including some journalists.
He said “And then we also face what we call sponsored attacks and propaganda where those who are very rich and powerful when you are investigating them, they tend to be able to offer some monetary incentive to even journalists and they will consistently be attacking you and spewing counter and false information against your outfit.
“All in a hope to create that impression that we are all the same. Nobody is perfect. Why are you trying to prosecute somebody and investigate somebody as if you are a saint?
“But the idea is that those of us in the anti-corruption industry are not saint. We are just trying to go by the law.”
However, the President of GJA Albert Dwumfour disagrees.
He argued that there have been instances where the media has lauded the work of the OSP, and therefore, it was not right for the anti-corruption agency to take such a stance.
“The media publishes news and communicates positive news about the OSP. The OSP recently was commended especially in the case of Cecilia Dapaah. When they [OSP] actually stepped in when no one was expecting them to because Cecilia Dapaah was a Minister of state for that matter under the current administration, the media commended them. Should we say that they paid the media to do that?” he quizzed.
Although Mr Dwumfour admitted that some media practitioners are not properly remunerated, he said it did not imply that they would ignore the ethics of the job for monetary inducements.
“What we are saying is that, we ought to now look at ways of improving the working conditions of journalists, improving the lives of journalist so that such temptation will not even surface. So what the OSP is saying and trying to indict the media, we disagree,”he added.
