GJA demands more media accreditation, threatens to return 4,500 cards if not Increased

A standoff has erupted between the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) and the Electoral Commission (EC) over the allocation of media accreditations for the upcoming elections. The GJA has rejected the EC's offer of 4,500 accreditations, deeming it insufficient to ensure comprehensive media coverage.

According to GJA President Albert Dwumfour, the association will not distribute the accreditations unless the EC increases the number.

In an interview on the Citi Breakfast Show (CBS) on Dec 2, Dwumfour emphasized the importance of adequate accreditation for media personnel to access key areas during the elections.

“We are not compromising on anything. We are only saying that we’ll make sure that at least whatever numbers that the media need to cover elections or to have unfettered access to the centres, we will make sure, we will ensure that we have it.

“In fact, we’ve taken delivery of the 4,500, we told them that we cannot distribute it. It is two things, either you are there or maybe it’s either you cooperate with us or we bring back your cards and then you call the media houses and distribute, we are doing that favour and we are the interface between you, the EC and our media and our people,” Dwumfour stated.

“We are not going to work with that. I have told you we took delivery of it yesterday afternoon. If we wanted to distribute, we would have started by now. We are not going to work with that and I’ve made that clear.

“As you see if the EC is not going to cooperate with us on this matter, we will only return those 4,500 back to them to do their distribution.

The EC had initially set a cap of 3,308 accreditations, which was met with widespread criticism from journalists and media advocacy groups. The commission later revised its policy, increasing the number to 4,500. However, this revised allocation has failed to appease the GJA.

Source: Florence Kyei / Lead News Online