Ahmed Suale’s Murder must catalyst permanent and sustainable reforms in journalism in Ghana – Nana Oppong

The Ghana Journalist Association (GJA) and the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) have collaborated with private investigative firm – Tiger Eye PI to mark the second anniversary of the death of Ahmed Hussein Suale, the ace investigative journalist who was gruesomely murdered in the line of duty.

They are thus mounting pressure on the government to fish out the killers of the journalist without further delay.

At a public forum on Monday, January 18, 2021, in honour of Ahmed Suale on the topic “Public Interest Journalism and Protection of Journalists”, the guest speaker, a Canadian trained Ghanaian constitutional lawyer, Dr. Nana Oppong, noted that good journalism is becoming more dangerous in recent times because “Truth and Justice are the core functions of journalism”.

“A good journalist delivers an excellent report on truth and justice. Wherever truths are exposed, bad actors get into trouble. Wherever justice is given the light, unjust actors get into trouble. Thus good journalism is necessarily a fight of truth against lies and of good against evil,” he stated.

He asked participants at the forum and journalists in the country to use the opportunity of the anniversary of the death of Ahmed Suale to flip the tragedy of his death into opportunity.

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“We have the opportunity to let Ahmed’s death move us to reasoned and effective actions that would protect journalists in Ghana. It is true that Ahmed’s death was personal to him and that he was the victim of murder.

“Yet, the murder was possible because of a number of significant legal, professional, and cultural failures that made him vulnerable, exposed, and defenseless. The failures that made Ahmed a victim continue to date. In my view, they are getting worse time after time. This makes all serious journalists in Ghana vulnerable to violence, attacks, and intimidation. Unless we take care, what happened to Ahmed can happen to another journalist in Ghana,” Dr. Nana Oppong noted.

“So, in mourning his passing and calling on the authorities to find the perpetrators of Ahmed’smurder, we must resolve to let this occasion serve as a catalyst for permanent and sustainable reforms in journalism in Ghana. We must resolve to make the changes that would protect the lives of journalists and of the health of journalism itself in Ghana. Ahmed’s death can and must inspire us to commit to a new way of thinking about journalism in Ghana,” he added.

The organizers of the forum have hinted that they would do whatever possible to bring the killers of Ahmed Suale to book so as to highlight the increasing levels of election-related threats and attacks against journalists.

Among others, the forum discussed measures to stem the tide of attacks against journalists while pushing for justice for Ahmed Hussein Suale.

President of the GJA, Affail Monney, lamented the fact that two years after the gruesome murder the security agencies have not been able to arrest or prosecute the perpetrators.

Ahmed Suale, 31, a senior staff of Anas Aremeyaw Anas’ private investigative firm – Tiger Eye PI, was shot dead in his car on January 16, 2019. Bullet holes were found on his chest and neck in his blue BMW vehicle around the neighborhood Madina.

Days after the incident President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo assured the nation that the killers would be found and made to face the law. The President assured Ghanaians of his commitment to resolving the murder of the investigative journalist.

“Our law enforcement agencies are required to ensure that perpetrators of crime are rapidly apprehended and prosecuted. Strenuous efforts are being made to find the killer or killers of Ahmed Suale, who will be found and made to face justice,” he said had said while addressing a conference of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) in Takoradi.

In his solidarity message, the General Secretary of the International Federation of Journalists IFJ, Anthony Bellanger noted that the IFJ, and its affiliates across the world, reports and monitors the investigations of every killed journalist wherever they happened and pushes authorities to deliver justice.

“As the world’s largest organization of journalists, we cannot let any crime against a media worker go unpunished. Impunity is a passport to more violence and attacks against our colleagues. Two years ago they killed Ahmed, but how can we guarantee that tomorrow another sister or brother will not be killed when the perpetrators of these crimes know they will remain unpunished? For the memory of our murdered comrades, and for the safety of Ghanaian journalists and the future of journalism in the country, we must all say no to impunity,” he stated.

On their part, a representative of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) noted that not forgotten Ahmed Hussein-Suale and how no one has been held accountable for his murder and the far too many other journalists in Ghana that have been harassed, attacked, or arrested for their work.

Source: Jeorge Wilson Kingson || ghananewsonline.com.gh