The Media Foundation for West Africa condemns the wanton assault on five journalists covering the Council of State elections in the Ashanti Region of Ghana, and demands justice for the victims.
The journalists were attacked on February 11, 2025, by a group of unidentified men while covering the Council of State elections in the Ashanti region. The incident unfolded at the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council following a violent clash.
Media reports say the marauding thugs destroyed ballot boxes and scattered ballot papers before turning their anger on innocent journalists covering the chaos. The victims are Gideon Nana Peprah, GhanaWeb; Akwasi Oppong, Angel FM; Kofi Adade, Oyerepa Radio/TV; Atta K. Henry, Oseikrom Dawuro newspaper; and Charles Awuah Mensah of Lawson FM/TV.
The Managing Editor for Ghanaweb, Benefo Buabeng, confirmed to the MFWA that the news website’s Ashanti Region correspondent, Gideon Nana Peprah, was brutalised by the thugs, and needed to be rushed to the hospital for treatment.
Peprah corroborated his Editor’s claims, saying he was surrounded by seven muscular men who said they had seen him film them and demanded he deletes the footage from his mobile phone.
“They tried to seize my phone. When I tried to resist, one of them slapped me from behind on the right cheek; another standing in front of me slapped me on the left cheek; then a couple more. Before I could recover from the shock, one of them hit my mouth with a metal object, sending me to the ground. Then they took my phone away,” Peprah told the MFWA in a telephone interview.
Peprah, who spoke to the MFWA from the hospital, said he was receiving treatment in the emergency ward at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital for injuries sustained during the incident. The journalist added that he reported the assault to the Ridge Police Station where he was issued with a medical form.
Peprah further said two men whom he identified as regional executives of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) later retrieved his phone from the thugs, but with all recordings on the device deleted.
The MFWA learnt all the four other victims – Akwasi Oppong (Angel FM) Kofi Adade (Oyerepa Radio/TV) and Atta K. Henry (Oseikrom Dawuro) newspaper and Charles Awuah Mensah (Lawson FM/TV), were attacked because of their filming and ordered to delete their footages.
The MFWA has also learnt that the Ashanti Regional Police Command has given the public assurance that the people responsible will be brought to justice. While we welcome this assurance, we urge the affected journalists, their media managers/owners and all press freedom activists to continue to follow up on this matter until the perpetrators are apprehended to face the law.
The MFWA is concerned with the increasing incidents of violence associated with elections in Ghana, including attacks on journalists, and urges all stakeholders to adopt strategies to stem the menace.
