Ghana’s status as a beacon of press freedom on the African continent has dramatically eroded, according to data presented by the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA).

The nation has experienced a severe decline in the Global Press Freedom Index, dropping from an apex position as Africa's number one country in 2018 to a current rank of 50th globally in 2024.

This alarming trend was the focal point of a media-security dialogue held in Accra on Friday, November 28, where MFWA Executive Director Sulemana Braimah warned that the sustained drop is directly attributable to an increasing number of state-sanctioned abuses against journalists.

A Freefall in Global Rankings

Mr. Braimah highlighted the rapid and sustained deterioration of Ghana's standing on the Global Press Freedom Index (which ranks 180 countries). The data shows a nearly continuous downhill slide over six years:

While the country saw a minor recovery from its lowest point (moving from 62nd in 2023 to 50th in 2024), the current rank is far from the heights achieved previously.

“Even though we improved to 50th position in 2024, we remain far from the high levels we had achieved previously. In 2018, when we placed 23rd out of 180 countries, Ghana was number one on the African continent. The reasons for the decline are clear,” Braimah stated.

The Root Causes: Attacks and Misuse of Law

The Executive Director directly attributed the downturn to a measurable increase in actions that threaten the safety and operational capacity of journalists.

“We have witnessed an increase in media freedom violations, ranging from arbitrary arrests and detentions to physical violence, violent disruption of live programmes, and the growing misuse of laws on false publications,” he asserted.

The pattern of violations suggests a failure to enforce accountability within security agencies and a weaponisation of legislation to intimidate reporters.

Cases of journalists being physically assaulted while covering public events, arbitrary detentions without due process, and the filing of politically motivated libel or "false publication" charges have all contributed to a climate of fear and self-censorship.

The Media-Security dialogue, which brought together media practitioners and security agencies, was explicitly designed to address these systemic issues, aiming to foster better relationships, trust, and collaboration between the two sectors.

The MFWA hopes the forum will kickstart institutional reforms necessary to reverse the negative trends and restore Ghana’s position as a regional leader in media rights.