Investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni has alleged that the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA) was in the process of surrendering the International Press Center to the Ministry of Information for redevelopment.
According to the Editor-In-Chief of The Fourth Estate, there exists a Memorandum of Understanding, whose terms include that the GJA will hand over the Press Center to be developed into a multi-purpose facility known as “The Freedom House.”
He adds that the new edifice will include office space for the National Media Commission and the Right to Information Commission as well as the GJA offices.
He is livid especially because the arrangement has been entered into by the Affail Monney-led executive body, whose tenure of office expired last year but have yet to hold elections.
Manasseh avers that Monney and his executives should have handed over the running of GJA to an interim body until polls are held and not entering major agreements on behalf of members.
In his opinion, the GJA should maintain the status of the Press Center as it is and develop it into a “workstation for journalists. That workstation needs its privacy. We don’t need to share offices with other institutions. This should not happen,” he stressed.
Full Facebook post: HOW THE GJA MAKES GHANAIAN JOURNALISTS LOOK STUPID
I’ve seen an MoU that the GJA wants to sign and surrender the Ghana International Press Centre to the Ministry of Information to build an office complex for the National Media Commission and the Right to Information Commission, which will also house the GJA. The so-called edifice shall be called The Freedom House.
The purpose of the Ghana International Press Centre is not the same as an office space to house GJA executives. The press centre does and should do more than just house the secretariat of the GJA. The Ghana International Press Centre should stand alone. It should be developed as a workstation for journalists. That workstation needs its privacy.
We don’t need to share offices with other institutions. This should not happen.
Besides, Affail Monney’s second term as president of the GJA ended last year. There should have been an election last year. He has not held that election and has not handed over. He is still taking major decisions on behalf of the association.
And it’s shocking journalists in Ghana who pay their dues to the GJA are sitting down and allowing this to happen. What moral right do you have to report about bad governance elsewhere when your own association has been hijacked by people whose tenure has ended?
The GJA awards will not be held this year because the association has been hijacked by people who are not willing to leave office despite the fact that their tenure ended in 2020.
If for any reason Affail Monney and his team cannot organise an election, he should stop holding himself up as the President of the Ghana Journalists Association. He is not.
There should be an interim team to manage the GJA until the elections are held to elect new executives.
He and his group should not take any decision on behalf of the journalists in Ghana. It’s illegal. It’s obscene.
These happenings make journalists, especially members of the GJA look very stupid.