President John Mahama has pledged to work closely with the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) to restore Ghana’s image as a beacon of press freedom in Africa.

Speaking during a courtesy call by a GJA delegation, the President expressed concern about the country’s consistent decline on the World Press Freedom Index.

He attributed it to harassment of journalists and high-profile attacks, including the murder of investigative journalist Ahmed Suale.

“We've seen a consistent decline in our international rankings, and that is an issue of concern for us. Part of it is because of the harassment of journalists and even the unfortunate murder of Ahmed Suale, which caught international attention. Since then, other incidents have further diminished our ranking,” President Mahama said.

He stressed that impunity for such acts must end if Ghana is to reclaim its reputation.

“We need to ensure that people, when they do that kind of thing, face sanctions or are punished because once there’s no deterrent, they continue to do it. We’re going to work together with you to make sure that we improve our rankings again so that Ghana resumes its pride of place as the beacon of media freedom, not only in West Africa but in the whole of Africa.”

The President also announced plans to establish a forum for dialogue between journalists and security agencies.

This platform, he explained, will educate officers to see journalists as partners in development rather than adversaries.

“Educate and create awareness that journalists are not enemies. They are reporting something that is happening, and so they must be given a free leverage to be able to do their reporting,” he said.

President Mahama said he will direct his ministers in charge of security agencies to work with the GJA to institutionalise the forum.

“I told the president that I'll want Felix and the ministers of security agencies to create a certain forum where the Journalists Association and these security agencies can interact, so that it sends a message to them that look, journalists are not your enemies. They are there to do their legitimate job of informing the people, and so they are not subject to harassment,” he added.