PRESS RELEASE
« The West Africa Editors Society (WAES) is concerned about the safety of journalists and press freedom in Ghana following the unprovoked assault on the journalist, Solomon Kanaluwe, the North East Regional Correspondent of Media General. Military officers detained and subjected Kanaluwe to severe beatings using sticks, leaving his body with lacerations and wounds.
The Society is alarmed at the unending attacks on journalists in Ghana by state security officers, the seeming inaction of the authorities to stop it. The Society is therefore calling on the Ghanaian authorities to do the needful, rein in the officers, investigate the cases and sanction those found culpable. It was barely a month ago when officers of the Ghana National Fire Service assaulted another journalist, Samuel Addo of the Class Media Group in Kasoa. While there is no closure yet to the matter, officers of the military have been cited in another case of assault of a journalist.
The West Africa Editors Society is dissatisfied with how the authorities have been handling cases of police, fire service and military officers arresting, assaulting and detaining journalists while they do their work. The primary role of state security officers is to protect life and property and preserve the peace. It is however, unconscionable that Ghanaian state security agents find pleasure in subjecting journalists to beatings, in the line of duty.
Ghana occupies an enviable place among its peers in Africa and around the world as a good example of a country that is raising the bar for democratic practices, but the repeated misconduct of state security officers is increasingly becoming a blot on the country’s reputation.
The West Africa Editors Society is therefore calling on the authorities to act as a matter of urgency and responsibility to end these unpalatable happenings involving state security officers. »
27th January, 2026
For WAES Emmanuel K Dogbevi, Interim President
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Note to Editors: The West Africa Editors Society is a regional body representing editors in West Africa. It is an affiliate of The African Editors Forum (TAEF), which is the continental group of editors in Africa.
Contact: Emmanuel K Dogbevi. Tel.: +233244699845