GJA set to restructure after the ‘GJA Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow seminar’

The Ghana Journalist Association has decided to revamp the composition of the association after a critical review during the “GJA Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow seminar at the Alisa hotel on February 2.

Communique issued at the end of the seminar on “The GJA Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow – Repositioning for the Next Phase” held at the Alisa Hotel in Accra on Wednesday, February 2 2022

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Preamble

We the members of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), having met at the Alisa Hotel in Accra on Wednesday, February 2 2022 to discuss “The GJA Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow – Repositioning for the Next Phase”:

• Recognizing the disarray in which the GJA finds itself today, and the lack of guidance and direction for our professional association in these challenging moments;
• Realizing the lacuna in our constitution that has made our association leaderless with no functional executive (except a “one man show”), and has perpetuated an illegal president and national and regional executives for about 14 months now;
• Evaluating the extent to which the GJA’s list of members in good standing has been compromised, resulting in a complete lack of credibility for, and loss of confidence in the voters list;
• Concerned about the flurry of petitions from various aspirants against the list of members in good standing and its use for the up-coming elections, as well as the apprehensions by members across the country about the existence of names of non-journalists on the voters’ roll;
• Acknowledging the extent to which members of the association have been isolated from activities of their professional body and the current level of apathy within the association;
• Considering the fact that the GJA has capable men and women to help reposition the association for the future – particularly the rich assembly of retirees and seniors that this profession is blessed with;

Do hereby resolve, and be it resolved that:

1. An Interim Management Team (IMT) comprising senior members of the association be constituted to assist the constitutionally mandated committees of the GJA to develop a road map that will lead the association out of the current crisis and ensure the conduct of a credible election for new national and regional executives.
2. IMT, working with the Elections Committee (EC) and the Elections Dispute Adjudication Committee (EDAC) of the GJA, should develop modalities for cleaning up the voters register and rid it of all suspicious names before the GJA elections are held.
3. Members interested in participating in the voting process should be prepared to submit themselves to a form of identification and verification prior to the elections.
4. An Annual General Meeting (AGM), conducted by the IMT must be held as a matter of urgency, and in accordance with the provisions of the constitution, to decide on the issue of leadership of the GJA in this interregnum and how to proceed with the elections.
5. Pending the AGM, the immediate past President of the association, Mr. Roland Affail Monney and his executives must desist from holding themselves out as President and executives of the GJA, particularly when their tenure had elapsed since November 2020.
6. Media houses, corporate organizations and members of the public should desist from according the outgone President the status of President of the GJA, since he is not the President. Any person or organization that deals with the outgone president and the executives does so at their own risk.
7. Consideration must be given to constitutional reforms that will strengthen the constitutionally mandated committees of the GJA, prevent the lacuna and crisis in which the association finds itself today, and also help to enforce the provisions, processes and procedures that ultimately confer membership on applicants.

This resolution is issued this Wednesday, 2^nd February, 2022 (see participants list attached).

DISTRIBUTION

1. The Chief of Staff, Jubilee House
2. The Minister of Information
3. The National Media Commission
4. Financial Institutions
5. International Federation of Journalists
6. All United Nations (UN) agencies in Ghana
7. The US Ambassador
8. The British High Commissioner
9. The Canadian High Commissioner
10. The German Ambassador
11. The Indian High Commissioner
12. The Chinese Ambassador
13. Friedrich Ebert Stiftung
14. Star Ghana
15. The Media Foundation for West Africa
16. West Africa Journalists Association
17. The National House of Chiefs
18. All Media Houses
19. All Political Parties
20. All Corporate Bodies
21. All Security Agencies
22. All Civil Society Organizations