GJA will be repositioned from a reactive to proactive association – Albert Dwumfour

Mr. Albert Kwabena Dwumfuor, aspiring President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), says the operation of the GJA will be properly streamlined and moved from its current reactive management to a more efficient and proactive association.

He said he envisioned a GJA where issues were dealt with proactively rather than the ineffective approach of waiting to respond after the issues had occurred.

“GJA has been very reactive with the issuance of statements in instances when journalists have been assaulted. This time round, the Association will be proactive because we won’t wait for journalists to be attacked before we issue statements; we will go beyond the rhetoric,” he said

Mr. Dwumfuor, also the current National Organising Secretary of the GJA, addressing members of the Association at the Ghana News Agency in Accra, said the vicious cycle of reactiveness must be broken and that he was the best bet to lead the Association.

He said the welfare of journalists and media practitioners would be at top of the plethora of things he hoped to undertake if he was voted as President of the GJA.

The Election Dispute Adjudication Committee (EDAC) of the GJA had directed the Elections Committee to take urgent steps to initiate processes for the successful conduct of the Association’s election by Thursday, June 30, 2022.

The GJA Presidential hopeful who was accompanied by practicing and retired journalists from the State and private media said plans were afoot to unionize the Association and give it a collective bargaining power for better conditions of service for journalists.

He said there was a concerted effort to get all stakeholders involved in ensuring that all unions particularly in state media houses were consolidated into the yet-to-be instituted “GJA Union”, stressing that journalists also deserved good quality of life.

The welfare of journalists, he further noted, would be championed to the letter and that the many attacks on journalists in the line of duty would be curbed and the perpetrators made to face the full extent of the law.

Mr. Dwumfuor indicated that as part of efforts to promote the welfare of journalists, he was partnering with selected banks and financial institutions to provide an insurance package for journalists of the Association to protect them from risk in the line of duty.

He said membership was a lifeblood of an Association and he was going to undertake a membership drive for the Association and create a truly valuable and unique experience for existing members and prospective ones.

“GJA Chapters have collapsed in most media houses, and the first step will be to reactivate these chapters and incentivise regional chapters to be able to work effectively,” he added.

Mr. Albert Kwabena Dwumfuor will be contesting Mr. Gayheart Mensah, a Media Consultant, and Mr. Dave Agbenu, Editor of the Ghanaian Times newspaper.