The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) General Secretary, Kofi Yeboah, has defended Citi FM Journalist Caleb Kudah’s decision to film some grounded MASLOC cars parked within the premises of the National Security Ministry.
Caleb Kudah, who’s also the Host of BackPage, a news satirical show on Citi TV, is the latest victim of brutality by security personnel after he was assaulted by some National Security operatives who detained him.
He has been criticized by some sections of the public, including the GJA President, Affail Monney, who believes Caleb Kudah breached the code of ethics for journalists by filming the cars in a supposed restricted zone.
Whilst the actions of the National Security personnel have been widely condemned, others like Mr. Yeboah have defended Mr. Kudah’s filming at the National Security Ministry, saying he did not breach any code as long as he acted in the interest of the public.
“Insofar as the public/national interest was at stake (as evidenced in his narrative), he was firmly within the bounds of journalism ethics, including Article 13 of the GJA Code of Ethics,” Mr. Yeboah said in a post on Facebook.
He stressed that “the nebulous identity of national security cannot, and should not, be allowed to strip the media of its cardinal constitutional mandate under Article 162(5): “All agencies of the mass media shall, at all times, be free to uphold the principles, provisions and objectives of this Constitution, and SHALL uphold the responsibility and accountability of the Government to the people of Ghana”.
Mr. Yeboah further asked Ghanaians to “encourage civility and the rule of law, which are trademarks and honorifics of constitutional governance rather than brute and barbarism, which are hallmarks and horrific of military juntas.”
Another Citi FM journalist, Zoe Abu-Baidoo Addo, was also picked up later at the premises of Citi FM for receiving the videos from Caleb Kudah.
About half a dozen heavily armed personnel turned up at the station and tried to detain her without following due process.
