I’m afraid of assigning reporters to cover election 2020 – Bernard Avle

Host of the Citi Breakfast Show on Citi FM, Bernard Koku Avle has expressed fear for the safety of reporters of the station in covering the 2020 general elections.

His worries come on the back of recent attacks and violations on journalists in the country with the very latest being the arrest and alleged torture of two journalists of ModernGhana, an online news portal as well as an attack on reporters of Citi Fm/Citi TV by some staff of the National Identification Authority (NIA).

The development has generated wide apprehensions and condemnation with many organizations including the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) and others expressing concerns over what they described as an attack on press freedom.

According to the MFWA, during the past 18-months, the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has documented 31 cases of violations against journalists and media houses. The 31 attacks have involved over 40 victims as some attacks involve multiple individuals.

Bernard Avle, a distinguished Ghanaian Media Personality and award winning journalist while expressing his disappointment at how government is handling the alleged torture of journalists of ModernGhana and citing the recent attack on reporters of their media outlet remarked on his show “I don’t even know how am going to send people’s children out there to cover the 2020 elections. Seriously I don’t”.

He added that a decision as communicated by the Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah to the effect that the case has been handed over to the police does not necessarily address the issue of the alleged torture of the reporters.