[ad_1]
General News for Monday, May 4, 2020
Source: John Dramani Mahama
2020-05-04
John Dramani Mahama
Click to read all about the coronavirus →
Today we celebrate Press Freedom Day.
Freedom of the press must not only be marked, but celebrated and appreciated as a vital and fundamental ingredient of democracy.
Without freedom of the press, we would all be silent; We would not be free citizens, but simply subjects controlled by whoever is in power.
Press freedom is not a fact; We must always remember that, and especially now, when the COVID-19 pandemic tempts some governments around the world to want to restrict citizens’ freedoms.
Just as the press performs a civic service for all of us, we also have a civic duty towards it, that is, to always defend and be ready to fight for press freedom.
According to Reporters Without Borders, during my Presidency, Ghana became the country with the highest levels of press freedom in Africa. At the time, we were ranked number one out of 54 countries in Africa. We are ranked 23rd in the world ranking among 180 countries.
Three and a half years later, we have fallen seven places in the world ranking and we have lost the first place in Africa to Namibia and Cape Verde. Unfortunately, we have lost this invaluable state that made all of us proud.
This should concern us, not just journalists and media owners, but all of us, as citizens and as Ghanaians.
As I said, when freedom of the press is restricted, democracy suffers. And all other human rights that anchor our dignity as human beings are eroded.
Without freedom, our dignity is trampled underfoot. That is why we need a free press as much as we need fresh air to breathe.
So let’s all protect press freedom.
We condemn the murder of journalists such as Ahmed Suale, as well as the harassment of Manasseh Azure and Edward Adeti.
Let us stand up and speak out against the dictatorial withdrawal of radio frequencies and the closure of radio stations by the government of Nana Akufo-Addo.
Let us remember and demand that the government stop paying the word to the Right to Information Law.
Let us always encourage, value and expand the boundaries of Freedom of the Press in this digital world.
We owe it to our great and hard-working journalists, but, above all, we owe it to ourselves.
I celebrate the men and women of the press in Ghana and around the world. The COVID-19 threat has not intimidated their eternal spirits. The pandemic has not prevented him from going long distances, and sometimes he risks a lot to tell us the stories.
You’ve been on the front lines of fighting disease. We thank our press men and women.
May God bless Ghanaian journalists and journalists around the world.
May we all rededicate ourselves to restoring Ghana’s enviable position as the number one freedom of the press in Africa.
May God continue to bless our Ghana Homeland.
John Dramani Mahama
Barracks- Accra
May 3, 2020.
Send your news to
and through WhatsApp in +233 55 2699625.
