TAEF Urges Ghanaian Authorities to Halt Security Personnel Assaults on Journalists

The African Editors Forum (TAEF) is calling on the Ghanaian authorities to take decisive action against persistent attacks on journalists by members of the country’s security services. over the years, the military and the police have been on record for having assaulted journalists in public while they do their work. The fact that the unacceptable conduct has continued proves that these officers act with impunity because there are no repercussions for such dastardly acts.

Recent attacks on journalists by uniformed
officers are concerning. on July 11, 2025,
during parliamentary by-elections in Able-
kuma North, a police officer assaulted GHone TV reporter Kwabena Agyekum Banahene, an incident captured on camera. The Ghana Police Service is investigating the officer. In another incident on July 30, during a building demolition at Spintex in Accra, JoyNews reporter Carlos Carlony, his cameraman, and an eyewitness
were allegedly assaulted and detained by
armed military officers while covering the
event.

Such incidents, where security personnel
violently assault journalists in the course of
their professional duties, significantly tar-
nish Ghana’s democratic reputation and its
commitment to press freedom. It is therefore reassuring to hear the President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, publicly condemn these acts.

TAEF commends the President for his public condemnation of the physical attacks on the journalists. We ask that President Mahama further substantively reinforce his words by directing security agencies to stringently bring to justice those who have abused their powers by threatening and assaulting journalists.

TAEF has consistently called upon security
services personnel across Africa to protect
journalists and ensure that they have safe
spaces to do their work. We further call on
President Mahamato demand thorough and transparent investigations into the incidents and ensure that the decisions arrived at after the investigations are actionable, sending a strong signal to members of the security services that attacks on journalists simply
doing their work will not be tolerated.