The Media Coalition, comprising the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA), the Private Newspaper Publishers Association of Ghana (PRINPAG), and the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), has called on the Electoral Commission (EC) to guarantee unrestricted media access to collation centres during the December 7 elections.
The coalition announced plans to formally present a proposal to the EC after consultations with the electoral body.
This appeal follows an earlier directive from the EC to its regional directors, limiting media accreditation to eight organisations per constituency collation centre and 12 at regional collation centres.
Speaking at a press conference in Accra on Thursday, November 28, GJA President Albert Dwumfour expressed concerns that restricting media access could undermine the transparency and integrity of the electoral process. "We believe restricting access to the media will not be in the best interest of transparency, accountability, and access to information, which is always a major partnership essential for these elections. "It will also weaken the strong steps being taken to trample upon misinformation and disinformation, which phenomena are a major concern of the election. "Restricted media houses may rely on sources of information that may not be wholesome and that could compromise the integrity of the elections in essence, restricting access to the media will hurt rather than help the quest for credible media reportage of the elections and the eventual outcome of same. "Colleagues, what we expect the EC to do is to provide improved mechanisms to facilitate the work of the media at all the levels of voting and collation of ballots," he stated.