Regional executives of GJA demand apology from Affail Monney, Stan Dogbey

Regional executives, of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) have condemned Mr Affail Monney, the President of the association’s utterances after the tragic death of Ghanaian Times reporter, Samuel Nuamah, in a road accident involving the presidential press corp.

“We want to disassociate ourselves from Mr Monney’s unfair comments on the issue and remind him that as a true leader, he ought to have the confidence to stand alone, have the courage to make tough decisions and also have the heart for his people,” a statement issued by the regional executives said.

They are, therefore, calling on the GJA president and a Presidential staffer, Mr Stan Dogbey, who allegedly seized and destroyed a Ghana Broadcating Corporation (GBC )reporter’s recorder, to apologise for their actions.

Comments

Mr Monney is reported to have indicated that the vehicle hired for the journalists in the President’s convoy was in good condition following a meeting between him and the Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah.

According to a Joy news report, Mr Monney said that was not the first time the presidency (through its transport officer) had done business with the car rental company, so there was no doubt due process was followed.

He also told the Accra-based radio station that the claims by a GBC Presidential Correspondent, Mr Napoleon Ato Kittoe, was not a reflection of what actually took place since he (Kittoe) was asleep.

Statement

The regional executives in the statement described the reaction by their president as insensitive and unfortunate. They accused him of “reportedly criss-crossing the corridors of power for embellished answers rather than ascertaining the truth from those who were involved in the accident.”

The four-page statement, signed on behalf of the executive by Kingsley E. Hope, Alice Tettey, Maxwell Kudalor, Dotsey Korbla Aklorbortu, David Yarboi Tetteh, Victor Kwawukume and Dominic Hlordzi, said the failure of the GJA president to probe beyond what he was told at the presidency was a reflection of poor leadership quality.

Shameful

“We think it is a shame that the GJA president, after a meeting with the presidency, ignored the account by his own Napoleon Ato Kittoe,” it indicated.

“It was heart-rending that Mr Monney told Joy FM that information he had from a clairvoyant Wisdom Awuku, a Presidential Staffer, who was comfortably seated in a 4x4 V8 vehicle, was that Napoleon was sleeping when the accident occurred and, therefore, could not have monitored or observed what had happened,” it added.

The statement further said: “What the GJA president failed to notice is that Awuku, with his questionable attitude towards the media, was not one of the passengers on board the vehicle; so how come he took the words of Awuku as the measure of truth?”

The statement said Mr Monney’s position was in aversion to what the association as a group believed in and they would mark Thursday, the day he granted the interview to Joy FM, as a dark day in the history of journalism in Ghana.

“What happened to Samuel could have happened to any of us. It is, therefore, shameful for the GJA president to provide answers that were apparently cooked by persons within the presidency,” it said.

The statement, therefore, asked the GJA president to render an unqualified apology to members of the association because he had failed all members of the inky fraternity.

Stan Dogbey

The statement further demanded that Stan Dogbey must also render an apology for allegedly seizing and destroying a voice recorder of a GBC reporter, Yahaya Kwamoah, for carrying out his responsibilities as a journalist.

“To Stan Dogbey we want to say that he may be a presidential staffer today, but he should remember that power is not absolute, and as the Igbos say, “a bird that flies off the earth and lands on an anthill is still on the ground.”

• At the time of going to press, the GJA president had rendered an apology.