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Elections 2024: We’ll not defend unprofessional conduct – GJA warns journalists
The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has warned media practitioners against unprofessional conduct ahead of the 2024 elections.
Speaking at the Launch of the GJA/US Embassy Ghana Election 2024 project dubbed: “Journalists for Peaceful Discourse” on Thursday, the GJA President, Albert Kwabena Dwumfour, said GJA will not protect or defend any media practitioner who behaves in a way that incites violence or undermines the electoral process.
The GJA’s warning comes after a monitoring report by the association found that the media was used to incite violence during the 2020 elections.
He urged media practitioners to practice responsible journalism and to avoid reporting in a way that could incite violence or undermine the electoral process.
“Freedom of expression does not only mean allowing people to speak but also ensuring responsibility. Findings of a GJA/MNC media monitoring during the December 7 elections revealed that incitement on media platforms topped types of violence perpetuated during the election.
“This is the reason I keep admonishing media practitioners and institutions to be very professional in the discharge of their duties. I want to reiterate that the GJA does not and will not condone unprofessional conduct. We will not shield or provide cover for defiance of professionalism.”
Source: Citinewsroom.com
The Member of Parliament for Nsawam Adoagyiri, Frank Annoh Dompreh, has expressed concern over delays in the release of the District Assemblies Common Fund, warning that the situation is stalling development across the country.
On his facebook page, he described as a matter of urgent national importance, the Minority Chief Whip pointed to what he sees as a growing crisis of unpaid contractors, abandoned projects, and halted infrastructure works in many districts.
He noted that several communities are grappling with half completed schools, unfinished health facilities, abandoned markets, deteriorating roads, and stalled sanitation projects.
According to him, many contractors who have executed projects for district assemblies have not been paid, forcing some construction firms to demobilise from sites while workers lose their jobs.
He stressed that the District Assemblies Common Fund is not a discretionary allocation but a constitutional requirement under Article 252 of the 1992 Constitution, intended to support development at the local level.
In his view, years of delayed releases and accumulated arrears have weakened district development financing and disrupted projects meant to improve living conditions in communities.
He further argued that some payments made in recent years were largely the settlement of old debts rather than funding for new or ongoing projects, a situation he believes has affected contractor confidence and local economic activity.
He described the issue as more than a budgetary challenge, characterising it as a development emergency and a governance concern.
He therefore urged the appropriate authorities to pay outstanding DACF arrears, settle contractors who have completed their work, and ensure that transfers to districts are automatic and predictable.
He maintained that decentralisation can only succeed when district assemblies receive adequate and timely funding to carry out development projects.
He emphasised that stalled projects directly affect ordinary citizens, since they rely on such infrastructure for education, healthcare, transportation, sanitation, and economic activities.
He called for renewed attention to grassroots development, insisting that national progress should not be concentrated only in major cities but extended to all communities.
By: Jacob Aggrey
Richard Appiah, the footballer who killed two children and stored part of their bodies in a fridge at Abesim in the Bono Region in 2021 has been handed a lifetime sentence.
This was after a five member panel of judges at the Accra High Court returned a verdict of guilty against the convict.
Appiah, 32, also a draughtsman would spend the rest of his life in prison after he was convicted of murder.
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BY MALIK SULLEMANA
