The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) is concerned about the three-hour interrogation of Prosper Agbenyegah, Editor of Current Issues newspaper, by Ghana's National Security Secretariat on April 7, 2025.
Agbenyegah was questioned over a story published by Current Issues in a story about alleged procurement national electrical power distributor, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG). His interrogation followed an invitation from Richard Jakpa, Director of Operations at the National Security Secretariat.
According to media reports, the said story was about a leaked document from National Security on the transportation of some ECG containers. Agbenyegah confirmed the invitation and interrogation in a telephone interview with the MFWA.
The Private Newspapers and Online News Publishers Association of Ghana (PRINPAG) expressed concern over the incident. In an interview with the MFWA, PRINPAG's Executive Secretary, Jeorge Wilson Kingson, described the invitation as an attempt to intimidate the journalist.
"If you have complaints about a journalist's story, the proper thing is to lodge a complaint with the National Media Commission (NMC)) which is the state agency clothed with the power to regulate the media; you don't just invite the journalist to your office, that amounts to intimidation," Kingson stated.
PRINPAG issued a communique confirming that Agbenyegah returned from the engagement unharmed and not under arrest. The statement noted that the encounter was "cordial and professional" and focused on the publication of certain classified documents.
"He was neither charged nor arrested, and no bail conditions were imposed," the communique added.
However, Kingson warned that such invitations are often used to intimidate journalists into revealing their sources and that the experience could intimidate the media into self-censoring in subsequent publications.
The MFWA joins PRINPAG in urging the National Security Secretariat and the public to address grievances through the National Media Commission, the constitutionally mandated body for regulating the media in Ghana.
