The Western Regional Chapter of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has secured a sixty-eight thousand Ghana Cedis medical insurance sponsorship from Goldfields Ghana Limited for retired journalists in the Western Region.
According to the Chairman of the Western Regional Chapter of the GJA, Moses Dotse Aklorbortu, the medical insurance would be managed by Premiere Insurance and be given to about 20 retired journalists as part of next month’s Western Regional GJA awards.
Speaking at the presentation ceremony, the Chairman stated that this decision was taken as a novelty to the awards scheme and make it more attractive.
Moses Dotse Aklorbortu-Chairman, W/R GJA Moses Dotse Aklorbortu-Chairman, W/R GJA “We here in the Western Region realized that the awards for journalists had become a normal trend so we decided to go a step further and include our retired journalists, which I think is a novelty in the GJA Regional awards scheme,” he said.
“It is very sad that you and I entered the space of journalism with the hope of successfully retiring one day but that is not the case. Journalism is actually a thankless job. As we speak now, many of our retired journalists in the region and the rest of the country have nothing to show but they have uncovered issues of concern and impacted lives through their work. So, we didn’t go to companies to ask for money to party or celebrate just present-day journalists but decided to seek medical insurance cover to take care of the retirees for over a year with the help of Goldfields Ghana Limited, “he added.
The Western Regional GJA Chairman indicated that besides hoping to seek more support to extend the years for the insurance, the next step would be to seek Life Insurance package for present day journalists.
On his part, the Executive Vice President of Goldfields in-charge of Human Resource West Africa, Francis Eduku, who presented the cheque to the GJA told Citi News that though journalists are usually demanding for accountability even from mining firms, they are doing crucial service to the country hence the support.
“We see the media as one of the very vital institutions in our society. We in Goldfields believe that the media is one of the social leagues on which the nation seeks its balance and without the media, we will not see much development. And so, if the media is doing something to recognize the hard-work of both retirees and current journalists, we deem it fit to support and associate ourselves with it. We will look at it on a year-on-year basis given our strength and focus but it is something we may be willing to support going forward,“ he stated.
Seven categories of awards have been earmarked for the Western Regional GJA awards scheduled to take place in November and the insurance package is expected to be the highlight for the awards.
The awards which is on the theme, “Redefining Corporate Social Responsibility: Moving From Handouts To Legacy Projects; The Role Of The Gate Keeper” has also received sponsorship from Ghana Gas and Ghana Manganese Company Limited to the tune of over GHS34,000.