The President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Albert Dwumfuor, has condemned the recent petrol bomb attack at the headquarters of the Class Media Group in Accra, the nation's capital.

Dwumfuor described the attack as 'barbaric terrorism' which dents Ghana's image as a country with democratic values, including the freedom and protection of the press, classfmonline.com reports.

The GJA president, who is reported to have made these remarks at the 2024 World Press Freedom Day event at the Koforidua Technical University on Friday, May 3, added that the attack was also an indication of the increase in violence in Ghana.

"We cannot commemorate the occasion without addressing the evils against press freedom. One of them is attacks against journalists and the media. We need to hammer it because it appears the evildoers are not tired, and they keep coming at us with more venom.

"It is in this respect that the GJA unreservedly condemns the recent petrol bomb attack on Class FM. That was clearly a terrorist act, and it's a shame Ghana is fast degenerating into such a culture of barbarism," he stated.

Dwumfuor expressed dissatisfaction with the failure of the Ghana Police Service to arrest and bring the perpetrators of the attack to book, to date.

He said that failure to punish those responsible for the attack would set the wrong precedent, especially because the country is in an election year.

"We believe the failure of the police to arrest and prosecute the perpetrators would embolden others to commit such crimes, thinking that nothing would happen to them. Such an impression will pose a great danger to the quest for national peace, especially as we prepare for Election 2024," Dwumfuor remarked.

However, he expressed optimism in the ability of the police to find the wrongdoers, urging them to expedite investigations into the petrol bomb attack and prosecute the perpetrators.

"We are aware these attacks are meant to intimidate journalists and the media, but that will never happen. We believe in the Ghana Police's capacity to catch perpetrators even without CCTV footage, as demonstrated yesterday when two of their colleagues were fatally shot at Trassacco. We will not teach the police how to execute their job, but we do urge them to take media attacks seriously," he said.

BAI/AE

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