Media Foundation for West Africa (Accra)
10 November 2008
press release
On 8 November 2008, Wisdom Peter Awuku, a reporter for the "Daily Guide", an Accra-based privately-owned newspaper, was allegedly assaulted by three men guarding a house belonging to Ghana's former president, Jerry John Rawlings, in Vume, a town near Sogakope in the Volta Region.
According to Awuku, the guards assaulted him and briefly confiscated his camera, mobile phone and car key.
An MFWA correspondent reported that Awuku had gone to the area to follow up on an earlier story the newspaper had published about a dead man found lying in front of the former president's house.
Awuku told the correspondent that the guards prevented him from photographing the house because he did not have permission to do so. When he repositioned himself to take shots of the river on which the dead body was reported to have been floating, the security guards besieged him and hit him on the neck before taking away his equipment.
The correspondent said Akwasi Asafo-Adjei, the Sogakope district police commander intervened to assist the journalist in retrieving his equipment.
When contacted, Kofi Adams, a special assistant to the former president, condemned the "Daily Guide" and accused it of being unprofessional. Adams told MFWA that the guards did not abuse the journalist's rights and that their actions were justified.
Read comments. Write your own.
Copyright © 2008 Media Foundation for West Africa. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
A Moment Of Truth For Kenya And Africa..By P E Adotey Addo by Peter E Adotey Addo Saturday, January 19, 2008 Rated "G" by the Author. The violence that rocked the world Reached horrific levels resulting everywhere With loss of children, women, and men for days Burned in a church as they were seeking sanctuary And sanctuary was denied In flames by mobs infuriated by votes. The innocent victims faced their rage Seeking help from locked doors and homes ending As charred bodies and trash in the… [Read Full Text]
A Moment Of Truth For Kenya And Africa..By P E Adotey Addo by Peter E Adotey Addo Saturday, January 19, 2008 Rated "G" by the Author. The violence that rocked the world Reached horrific levels resulting everywhere With loss of children, women, and men for days Burned in a church as they were seeking sanctuary And sanctuary was denied In flames by mobs infuriated by votes. The innocent victims faced their rage Seeking help from locked doors and homes ending As charred bodies and trash in the… [Read Full Text]