The Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa, Sulemana Braimah, has stated that although the appeal by the Attorney General for all high-profile cases to be live telecasted was a good call, the media must exercise circumspection to ensure that cases are not judged in the court of public opinion before the actual ruling.

According to him, court cases are usually debated on constitutional principles, and if not properly represented in the public domain, arguments might be taken out of context and sometimes affect the ruling of the matter.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Top Story on May 8, he said “I would be good to have live coverage as we are having in this case or the election petition but that I believe also imposes some responsibility on us.

“How do we prevent these things or capture these things to our audiences in such a way that it is professional, it does not affect processes in court and it doesn’t present any situation where judges may say if we continue this it is going to undermine justice delivery in our country. So there are pros and cons but I think that I am for it at least in high-profile cases.”

The Executive Director stressed that if this is going to be the norm, it means there must be some laid down procedures to keep the media in check to avoid situations where media operations will not tamper with court processes and procedures.

He stressed that this might not be rushed but must follow with some extensive stakeholder engagements.

“I don’t think that it will be proper for all of us so say okay yes advocacy let all court roles be opened to media and then we say from next month every court case the media can go there and cover it,” he said.

He emphasized that in a country where almost everything is given a political twist, it's crucial to apply extensive knowledge to prevent undermining the delivery of justice.

On the same show, President of the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA), Albert Dwumfour, said the AG call was commendable and would help in strengthening the country’s democracy.

He explained that since most individuals were already very suspicious of the judicial system, live broadcasting was a step in the right direction.

Dr Dwumfour said that if possible, cameras should be placed in the courtrooms to record proceedings, which could later be retrieved.

Also, he said the GJA President was ready to throw its weight behind any advocacy the Attorney General would need to achieve this, as long as it was in the interest of the nation.

The Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Godfred Yeboah Dame, appealed to the Chief Justice to allow live telecast of proceedings related to the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, also known as the anti-LGBTQ bill.

In a letter addressed to the Chief Justice, the Attorney General stated that the anti-LGBTQ bill had gathered significant public interest.

After the court proceeding today, Wednesday, May 8, Mr Dame also advocated that all high-profile cases be live telecasted.