The Akufo-Addo administration has earned its reputation as the most intolerant to freedom of expression and press freedom as the country’s ranking slumped by a staggering 100% in the leagues of nations ranked for their press freedom.
Ghana’s position dropped an unprecedented 30 places from 30th to 60th position on the global ranking.
In Africa, the situation was even worse, Ghana dropped by more than 200% in its ranking from being the third position to the 10th position.
In 2022 the Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the Akufo-Addo’s performance was at its worst throughout the period that the RSF started compiling ratings of countries based on Press Freedom.
“Although the country is considered a regional leader in democratic stability, journalists have experienced growing pressures in recent years. To protect their jobs and their security, they increasingly resort to self-censorship, as the government shows itself intolerant of criticism,” said RFS which compiled the data.
it added, “Journalists’ safety has deteriorated sharply in recent years. In 2020, reporters covering the effectiveness of anti-Covid-19 measures were attacked by security forces. And political leaders are again making death threats against investigative journalists. Nearly all cases of law enforcement officers attacking journalists are not pursued
In Africa, Ghana dropped positions from 3rd to 10th, the country’s worst performance in 17 years (since 2005 under Kufuor when it placed 66th).
This damning rating means that despite criticisms by Nana Akufo-Addo of previous administrations of both late John Evans Atta Mills and John Dramani Mahama of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), His administration turned out to be the most suppressive and brutal to citizens.
Journalists have been murdered and imprisoned by state actors under the Akufo-Addo administration because they were chasing stories that would expose the government’s deep-seated corruption.
This bloody clampdown of press freedom is the worst of all civilian administrations in Ghana. Its only competition is the few brutal military regimes in the past decades.
Under the Akufo-Addo Presidency, dissenting media houses have been inexplicably closed down; one journalist, Ahmed Hussein Suale has been gruesomely murdered in the line of duty trying to unravel a major bribery case at the Jubilee House against President Akufo Addo himself and Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia.
Also, social media activists, including Mahammed Kaaka have were killed by a mob of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) for exposing social degradation in his community. Several other activists have been tracked and incarcerated without trial by the regime using an oppressive 1960 law tagged “Publication of False News”.
Even though Akufo-Addo has often been credited to have contributed to the repeal of the criminal libel law, his regime is ironically the one that had reinstated it under the pretense called “publication of false news.”
Aside from targeting activists and journalists, the security under Akufo-Addo is rated as one of the most brutal in the world and in Africa, having killed perhaps more civilians than any other security agency in the country since independence.
During the 2020 elections that dubiously saw Akufo-Addo win his second term, about eight (8) civilians were killed by security agents for protesting election rigging in favour of the incumbent administration.
Later, several other people would be shot indiscriminately by the same security agents during protests.
There is widespread consensus that these security agents are members of the NPP’s feared militia group that has been secretly recruited to infiltrate the ranks of the military and the Police Service.
The heavy slump on the index makes Burkina Faso, a country governed by a military regime, better than Ghana in the matter of press freedom.
Ahead of Ghana in this year’s ranking is a list of other African countries such as Seychelles (13), Namibia (18), South Africa (35), Cape Verde (36), and Cote dÍvoire (37), Burkina Faso (41), Sierra Leone (46), The Gambia (51) and Niger (59).
The RSF World Press Freedom Index measures pluralism, media independence, the robustness of legislative frameworks and the safety of journalists in 180 countries and five regions.
Source: whatsupnewsghana