Journalists Sanctuary International (JSI) has donated protective equipment to Citi FM and Citi TV to wrap up the organisation’s annual whistle-stop advocacy and donation of protective gear to media organisations in Ghana.

Out of the 10 pieces of protective equipment donated to the Accra-based media organisation include three bulletproof vests, four military standard tactical helmets, and boxes of pepper sprays.

The donation exercise at Citi TV/FM was the last of the 2023 calendar year advocacy and donation project undertaken by the organisation since its inception a little over two years ago.

The nonprofit organisation has so far donated protective gear to over a dozen media outlets in Ghana including the Graphic Communications Group, The Ghanaian Times, The Fourth Estate, GhanaWeb, Myjoyonline, Kofi TV, Media General (TV3/3FM) JoyNews/Joy FM, Adom TV/FM, Ghana News Agency, and the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation.

All the donations have so far been financed by the personal resources of Latif Iddrisu, with support from the board.

Journalists Sanctuary International was founded by its current president, Latif Iddrisu, a journalist with the Multimedia Group Limited.

Latif has said in some interviews with the media and academia that the motivation behind the establishment of the organisation was the life-threatening assault he suffered when some officers of the Ghana Police Service assaulted him in 2018 at the headquarters of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Accra.

That assault and the unfortunate injury he sustained, derailed what was a promising journalism career.

Latif has vowed to prevent a repeat of that brutal experience on journalists everywhere in the world thus the creation of JSI, to empower newsrooms by providing the much needed protective equipment including military standard tactical helmets, bulletproof vests, and pepper spray as a critical layer of protection.

Those tangible protective gears are also expected to boost the confidence level of frontline journalists who, in their psychological armoury, will rest assured they are fortified.

The organisation is determined to extend its advocacy and donation exercise to other countries on the African continent and to the rest of the world to promote press freedom and democracy.

Journalists Sanctuary International is thus hoping to attract donors and partners to help sponsor future projects as Ghana and other African countries prepare for elections in 2024.