Editor of the DAYBREAK newspaper, Prince Prah was arrested on Wednesday, March 16 afternoon and detained at the Bureau of National Investigation (BNI) head office for a story he the security outfit bordered on national security.
According to the editor, he was invited by someone for a “hot” story and upon reaching the agreed location; the gentleman showed him his ID, told him he was under arrest, handcuffed and later bundled him into a waiting car.
Speaking on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana programme, Mr. Baako said the NDC already has an image problem when it comes to suppressing and harassing the media, adding that it will blow in the face of the NDC should they try to take the country back to the PNDC era where people could not freely express themselves.
According to him, a complaint could have been lodged with the National Media Commission (NMC) which is the mandated body to deal with matters of such nature.
“It is in the interest of the NDC three administration to make sure that it does not bring back the old regime of unnecessary harassment and criminalization of journalists. The earlier they package this case the better, they should have proceeded to the Media Commission no matter how volatile the story is. NMC is the right platform to deal with such issues but it is in the interest of the NDC administration not to go back to the PNDC time of culture of silence because of the image problem the NDC already have when it comes to suppressing the media,” he noted.
Malik Kweku Baako added that it is not right for the security to cause panic unduly about stories like this, adding that if there is a potential fear that the story may cause a security threat, it could have been forwarded to the NMC and the culprit invited on the quiet to give his statement.
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