Sulemana Braimah
The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has strongly condemned the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) for its slow response to the assault of JoyNews journalist Carlos Calony.
According to Sulemana Braimah, Executive Director of MFWA, the military’s statement on the incident was inadequate and failed to reflect the seriousness of the situation.
This follows a statement released by the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) announcing that it had begun investigations into the incident, which occurred during a demolition exercise at a warehouse belonging to McDan Company Limited, founded by businessman Mr Daniel McKorley.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Thursday, July 31, Mr Braimah criticised the military’s official statement on the matter, which said the incident was under investigation.
According to Mr Braimah, the statement failed to reflect the seriousness of the situation, especially given the clear video evidence of assault.
“I’ve had very respectable generals reach out to say that they themselves are quite disappointed with the statement issued yesterday by the military. What happened didn’t happen in secret. We are not speculating. It is not an allegation that Carlos was assaulted. This happened in the open. Videos have been seen”.
Mr Braimah questioned why the military claimed not to know the personnel involved, despite the incident being public.
“There is no point in the military trying to pretend they don’t know the officers involved. Sometimes, yes, you don’t want to take actions that will demoralise the military, but if you also allow indiscipline to fester, you’ll only be promoting it.”
He contrasted the military’s response with that of the police in a recent incident at Ablekuma North, where an officer was quickly interdicted for misconduct.
“We saw the immediate action on the part of the police. The officer was interdicted, and that gives some sense of hope that this is an institution committed to discipline,” he said.
Mr Braimah urged the military to go beyond issuing statements and take decisive action against officers who abuse their power.
“We can only look forward to realistic action being taken rather than this peripheral statement that we are investigating. What exactly are they investigating?”
Mr Braimah further described the incident as deeply disturbing and unacceptable.
“I think that what happened yesterday is completely untenable. It’s a deeply embarrassing one to see our men in uniform, our military men, behave the way they did,” he said.
Mr Braimah expressed concern over what he called a growing pattern of misconduct by security personnel, often under the guise of national security operations.
“We are also witnessing a very, very worrying pattern of some of these actions in the name of national security. Over time, we are hearing national security matters on issues that are just completely embarrassing, and the earlier these things are stopped, the better,” he noted.
Armed military officers on Wednesday, July 30, attacked JoyNews reporter Carlos Carlony, his cameraman and an eyewitness while the journalist was covering a demolition exercise at Spintex in Accra.
The soldiers further damaged the equipment of the journalist, leaving his camera in ruins and the victims with injuries.
Mr Carlony was later whisked away in a military vehicle, and his phones were seized as he was subjected to intense interrogation at Blue Gate, a facility by National Security carries out its operations.
He was only released after the intervention by the Minister for the Interior, with the government condemning the action of the soldiers.