The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) is entreating the Ghana Police Service to adopt communication channels that will enable various police districts and divisions to be able to share information freely.
The GJA President Albert Kwabena Dwumfour acknowledged the vision of the police to ensure that communication was done properly based on adequate briefs but noted that decentralization of police communication is the way forward now.
“This notwithstanding, it is essential to state that information is the oxygen for democratic dispensation and the media, being the Fourth Estate of the Realm, thrive on information. Starving the media of information in a decentralised system using centralisation tactics is impeding the work of the media as far as information dissemination is concerned,” the statement issued on September 26, 2022, said.
It said although the police administration may have germane reasons for the directive to have a centralized system, the GJA believes that the system is counter-productive and only creates room for speculation, misinformation and disinformation.
The association wants the police to rescind its decision on the centralisation of information in the interest of the public.
“It is important to emphasise that the GJA’s quest to get this system reversed follows incessant calls from the rank and file of the media fraternity asking for actions and intervention by the National Executive. It is also instructive to note that before this press statement, some of our regional branches were left with no option but to issue statements calling on the IGP to reconsider his decision to centralise information sharing and allow Regional Commanders and their Public Relations officers to give information on issues in their jurisdiction to the media as it used to be the norm,” it added.
The statement further indicated that journalists in the region are concerned about accurate and informed reportage, and it is important that they are assisted with timely and credible information to deliver on their mandate.
GJA entreated all journalists and media practitioners, in general, to remain calm while the National Executives make efforts to address their concerns and ensure a reversal of this system of communication by the police administration.