Ghana is past the era of ‘killing the messenger’!
Paramount Chief Tetre Akuamoah Sekyim of Wassa Akropong, seems to be among those who are not aware that if someone has a complaint against a journalist, there is a Constitutional body to whom such a grievance can be reported for redress: the National Media Commission (NMC).
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The NMC Act states: Any person aggrieved by a publication or by the act or omission of any journalist, newspaper proprietor, a publisher or any person in respect of any publication in the media may lodge a complaint against the editor, publisher, proprietor or other person before the Commission.
Secondly, chapter 12 of the Ghana Constitution also guarantees the right to a rejoinder to any person about whom something has been published.
Also, the national Constitution frowns on any citizen being subjected to degrading treatment; or torture, for whatever reason.
Chapter Five, ‘Fundamental Human Rights And Freedoms’, Article 15 states:
(1) The dignity of all persons shall be inviolable. (2) No person shall, whether or not he is arrested, restricted or detained, be subjected to (a) torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; ((b) any other condition that detracts or is likely to detract from his dignity and worth as a human being.
In short, chapter Five emphasizes ‘Respect for human dignity’.
However, according to recent media reports, the reaction of the Omanhene to what he deemed was an offence by a journalist was, in my view, an infringement of the rights of the journalist.
The following is a summary of what happened, as reported on October 12 by Myjoyonline:
Larry Saint, a journalist with Rivers FM at Wassa Akropong, in the Western Region, incurred the wrath of traditional rulers there when he criticised them for not acting in the interest of youth in the area.
Consequently, Larry Saint was asked by Omanhene Tetre Akuamoah Sekyim, “to kneel in the sun for over three hours as punishment for expressing his views after which he was handed over to the police for a charge yet to be established.”
The rampaging youth of the mining town had demanded that a Chinese national, Jiang Gen Hai, who had allegedly shot and killed a local youth be released to them for instant justice.
It was during the disturbance that Larry Saint had posted the message on a WhatsApp platform for journalists, accusing the chiefs of not doing enough to protect the youth of the area from abuse by the Chinese. This apparently offended the chiefs when they got to know about the internet message.
The journalist said his manager asked him to accompany him to the palace because the chief had summoned them.
Larry Saint told Joy News that at the palace, Omanhene Sekyim had played a recording and asked him if the voice was his. When the journalist answered in the affirmative, “he asked me to kneel down on the tiles. So I knelt. After a while he asked me to get up and go into the sun.”
The Western Region Police public relations officer, Olivia Diku, also confirmed the subsequent arrest to Joy News.
Earlier this week, in its issue of October 16, the Daily Guide reported that in response to criticisms about the punishment he gave the journalist, Omanhene Sekyim insisted that he had not committed any crime. He said he only punished the journalist for disrespecting the traditional authority, to serve as a deterrent.
“I believe in free speech but it has a limit and I think the journalist was not fair to make such remarks which undermined my authority,” he stated. However he denied making the journalist kneel in the sun.
My questions: So on what charge did the police arrest the journalist? Was it because the chief had ordered it? In any case, the chief had already punished Larry Saint!
It seems to me that making a person kneel for three hours constitutes cruel and excessive punishment.
Some would even describe it as a form of torture, and any form of torture cannot be an option in such matters, especially by a traditional leader. Our Nananom are supposed to be role models, above reproach.
I also wonder if it has occurred to the journalist to report his ordeal to the NMC, as well as to the Ghana Journalists Association – even if he’s not a GJA member.
As the mother body the GJA needs to be provided with information about intimidation of journalists, from whichever quarters, as part of the documentation of the history of the media in Ghana.
I’m not saying that journalists should be allowed to publish false reports. Some of us have been campaigning against irresponsible journalism for ages.
In fact, Omanhene Nana Sekyim could have turned the tables on the journalist and his media house by asking for his side to be aired on the same platform to correct any misinformation.
If there was no truth in what Larry Saint posted, Nana’s explanation would have exposed the unprofessionalism of the journalist and dented his image forever.
The free speech dispensation that the Omanhene referred to, also offers protection to journalists and ensures that people in authority don’t intimidate them to silence them. Ghana has long progressed beyond the era of journalists being punished for expressing views unpalatable to authority.
Nana Sekyim should note that usually reports such as that posted by Larry Saint reflect public opinion, so the best approach is to clarify things. ‘Killing the messenger’ will not make the negative public perception vanish.
And ironically, it often happens that people in authority who mistreat journalists find in the future that they need the media to tell their side of a story.
I think that the NMC needs to look into this matter. Nana Sekyim needs to know that the NMC’s doors are open at any time for all complaints against journalists.
Beyond that, I think that the journalist’s humiliating ordeal presents an opportunity for the NMC to request a meeting with the National House of Chiefs to establish a line of communication between their two critical institutions.
Who knows how some other chiefs in other places are treating journalists whose reports they find “disrespectful”?