One of the major mistakes some leading members of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) admitted after the party lost power in the year 2000 was their bad relationship with the media.

As a result of this admission, leaders of the party started courting the support of the press. In fact, the private press, which was their number one enemy in the Rawlings era, became their best medium, which they used to communicate effectively with the voting public. This contributed significantly to the return of the party to power. Surprisingly, just eleven months after coming back to power, the press has once again become the enemy of the ruling party supporters.

A story we carried in our front page Monday, which has been confirmed by the Brong Ahafo regional branch of the Ghana Journalists Association, indicates that supporters of the ruling party turned journalists in Sunyani into punching bags, and subjected them to severe beatings. The crime of these journalists was that they had reportedly filed some stories which were not in favour of the NDC.

What surprised The Chronicle most was the alleged refusal of the Sunyani Municipal Chief Executive, Kwasi Oppong Ababio, to intervene, because the journalists deserved the attacks. “You can’t instruct me.” ‘Se mo anka nkwasia sem a, enka yen be bo mo,” meaning if you had not said stupid things they wouldn’t have attacked you”, the MCE reportedly remarked when some of the journalists turned to him for succour.

The Chronicle finds the behaviour of these misfits parading themselves as human beings, as a purely criminal act, and we call on the police to investigate the issue, and bring the perpetrators to book.

When a journalist writes a story and you are not satisfied with it, the 1992 Constitution has made provision for the dissatisfied party to follow, to seek redress. But, these NDC hooligans decided to take the law into their own hands, and mete out their own punishment to the journalists.

We at The Chronicle think the NDC got support, and is still getting support from the media, due to two personalities - President Mills and his Vice, Dramani Mahama. The two have demonstrated that they support the freedom of the press, and the right to be subjected to constructive criticism.

Unfortunately, some hardcore supporters of the NDC do not look up to the humility of these two fine gentlemen, but continue to indulge in acts of gangsterism, as they exhibited during the revolutionary days, which they carried into the past Rawlings administration.

The Chronicle is waiting anxiously for what the NDC, as a party, is going to say, but while we wait for that, we would like to call on President Mills to investigate the conduct of the Sunyani MCE, and if it is established that he did utter those words that have been attributed to him when the journalists fell on him to save them, he should instantly be dismissed, before he brings the government down.

We are also urging the BA branch of the GJA, to boycott all programmes that would be organised by the MCE. If supporters of the NDC would not follow the conduct of President Mills, but will see the media as their enemies, the latter would also prepare for them.