The President of the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA), Mr. Albert Kwabena Dwumfuor, has bemoaned the lack of commitment to arrest the decay of Ghana’s national fiber, resulting in a fast and alarming decline over the years. He, therefore, calls for urgent measures by all stakeholders to halt this trend, with a pledge to ensure the commitment of the media fraternity in Ghana to eliminate wrong practices within their fold and uphold the right moral attitude.
Mr. Dwumfuor made these remarks during a fraternal address at the two-day National Development Conference underway at the behest of The Church of Pentecost at the Pentecost Convention Centre, Gomoa Fetteh, near Kasoa.
Touching on the conference theme, “Moral Vision and National Development,” Mr. Dwumfuor indicated that given the role the Church has played in the country’s development, it would not be out of place to refer to it as the fifth estate of the realm, after the fourth estate, the media. He congratulated The Church of Pentecost for demonstrating that ‘the church is both faith and action.’
He emphasised that the fast decay of the country’s morals places an urgent responsibility on all stakeholders to rise and ensure corruption, injustice, and poverty are eradicated. ‘The Church must use its media and other platforms to speak on the ills of the nation without compromise,’ he said.
Mr. Dwumfuor encouraged the Church to take up its role as the centrepiece of development through active participation in the nation’s progress. He also admonished the media to partner with the Church in their mandate to expose corruption and rot in the nation.
He posited that the media needed the support of all who want to see the nation developed and corruption eradicated. ‘Even when the media gets it wrong, resorting to assault is not the way forward. We must refrain from attacking media practitioners,’ he observed.
He requested the executive arm of government and parliament to condemn, in no uncertain terms, all physical attacks on the media and the judiciary to severely punish perpetrators to serve as a deterrent.
He praised The Church of Pentecost for organising a monumental and historical conference focused on moral vision and national development. The conference, the first of its kind organised by the church, brings together politicians from the political divide in Ghana, policy analysts and think tanks, the academia, heads of public and private institutions, the media, and all stakeholders invested in charting a course for the development of the nation.
The two-day conference is expected to produce a blueprint for a harmonious national agenda, focusing on a moral vision that all stakeholders in the country will embrace.
The opening session of the conference was graced by the Vice President of the Republic, Dr. Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia, the two surviving former presidents of Ghana, and their Excellencies, John Dramani Mahama and John Agyekum Kufuor. Also gracing the occasion are the Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament, Rt Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin; the Chief Justice of Ghana, Her Ladyship Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkonoo; members of parliament, ministers, the President of the Central Regional House of Chiefs, Odeefo Amoakwa Buadu VIII, representing the President of the National House of Chiefs, Ogyeahohoo Yaw Gbebi II; the Spokesperson of the National Chief Imam, Sheih Aremeyaw Shaibu, among other dignitaries.
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