Military officers detained and beat a journalist in Ghana’s North East Region, raising fresh concerns about press freedom in the West African nation, according to a statement released by the West Africa Editors Society.
Solomon Kanaluwe, North East Regional Correspondent for Media General, was subjected to severe beatings with sticks during his detention by military personnel, leaving him with lacerations and wounds across his body, the organization said.
The incident marks the second assault on a Ghanaian journalist by state security forces in less than a month. In December, officers of the Ghana National Fire Service assaulted Samuel Addo of the Class Media Group in Kasoa, a case that remains unresolved.
The West Africa Editors Society, a regional body representing editors across West Africa, expressed alarm at what it described as repeated attacks on journalists by state security officers and insufficient action by authorities to address the problem.
“It is unconscionable that Ghanaian state security agents find pleasure in subjecting journalists to beatings in the line of duty,” Emmanuel K Dogbevi, interim president of WAES, said in the statement.
The organization called on Ghanaian authorities to investigate the cases and sanction officers found responsible for the assaults. WAES warned that the repeated misconduct by security forces threatens to damage Ghana’s reputation as a democratic leader in Africa.
Ghana has long been regarded as one of Africa’s strongest democracies, but the society said the pattern of assaults on journalists by police, fire service and military officers is “increasingly becoming a blot on the country’s reputation.”
The West Africa Editors Society urged authorities to act urgently to end attacks on journalists by state security personnel.
