Friday, 9th January 1976.
Footage of Colonel Ignatius Acheampong, Ghana's Head of State, berating the Ghanaian press for facilitating what he termed the "biased" reporting of the Western press.
Col. Acheampong was speaking at a press conference held to mark the fourth anniversary of the coup which brought him to power after the overthrow of the civilian government of Dr. Kofi Busia. Part of his statement addressed the issue of press freedom and action taken against journalists who had been critical of his government's policies. He also announced that preparations were under way for a return to civilian government.
Transcript of Col. Acheampong's comments:
"We are not saying that those who contribute articles to (the) foreign press are not pathetic. We're not saying that. At least you can earn some foreign exchange when you go on holidays. You go to a nice hotel and enjoy yourself. But what we are saying is don't destroy your country. If you know that what you are writing is wrong, don't do it. Because you do your country more harm than good and this is all the foreign press wants. They don't want any developing country to come up to their standard. This you must accept. And once they can use you to destroy your own country, so much the better for them.
But, if any journalist continues, these people who we are talking about and very soon I'll ask our commissioner for Internal Affairs to read the gist, the A.G. (Attorney General), of what they done And you'll agree with them, some of them were given several warnings. The minute you give a warning, that warning appears on the TV, the BBC or in the paper in overseas, in a overseas paper. So we are saying that you are free to write whatever you what to. You can criticise the Government -then we will sit up. But don't destroy it. So when you know what you are writing is wrong, it isn't true and it is is meant to subvert, to create disaffection, to create confusion in the country, then you will do more harm than good. Because, if the country collapses you are already in it. It doesn't collapse for me or my colleagues. All of us are inside, just like people travelling on a ship. If a ship sinks, we all sink with it. This is what most of them (journalists) don't understand. They think that they are outside the Government, the Government is a separate entity somewhere (and) if it is destroyed, fine.
Source: Reuters News Footage.
Note:
Colonel Acheampong is described in the book "Press Freedom and Communication in Africa" (Eribo & Jong-Ebot - Eds; Published by Africa World Press in 1997) as having "restored the authoritarian method of press control" after the overthrow of the Busia government. For instance, his military regime issued a decree indemnifying the state-owned press against libel suits by opposition figures who alleged that they had been defamed by state-owned media outlets. In March 1973, his government revived the "Newspaper Licensing Decree" and the "Rumour Decree" to tighten control over Ghana's media institutions. In the course of imposing a regime of official and self-censorship in the media, he arrested and detained editors and journalists.
Acheampong was overthrown in a palace coup led by General Frederick Akuffo in 1978. Both men were among a group of previous military leaders who were executed the following year after a coup carried out by junior military officers.
The Tragedy of Ignatius Acheampong: Visionary and Kleptocrat
adeyinkamakinde.blogspot.com/...
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