The Ghana Journalists Association is set to unveil one of its signature initiatives, the Journalists Support Fund.
The fund, which is now in the policy stage, will go public the first week of October 2022.
This was revealed by the Association’s President, Mr. Kwabena Dwumfour, during a courtesy call on the Managing Director of the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) on Thursday, September 15, 2022, in Accra.
According to him, one primary factor is to assist in bringing justice to journalists who are assaulted on the job.
Mr. Dwumfour elaborated on the Fund, saying, “In the past, we realised that when journalists are attacked and assaulted or when journalist’s security and safety is being under threat, and whenever they are attacked, all we (GJA) do is to issue press statements, hold press conferences but we always leave it there”.
“There are a lot of cases which have now become cool because we don’t hear about them, we don’t seem to conclude investigation on assault cases especially assault cases against journalists”, he stated.
Mr. Dwumfour stated that the Journalist Support Fund will provide capacity building as well as look after the welfare of its members in addition to legal help.
Dr. John Kofi Mensah, Managing Director of ADB, urged journalists to specialize in agri-business reportage.
According to him, agribusiness is a key industry in the country and provides many jobs for the youth, thus the media should prioritise agribusiness.
He reaffirmed the bank’s commitment to supporting GJA programs like the Journalists Support Fund, journalist capacity building, rebranding and refurbishment of the Press Centre, and the GJA Awards.
