Sad Day for Investigative Journalism

Yesterday, Wednesday 16, January 2019 will remain a dark day in the history of Ghanaian investigative journalism. It is the day a Ghanaian journalist was shot dead ostensibly for his work.

It's so sad and devastating to hear about the killing of Ahmed Hussein-Suale, a key member of Tiger Eye Investigating Team, known for their undercover investigation of high profile crimes in the country and beyond.

Our heartfelt condolences go to the bereaved family, the Tiger Eye investigators, and the inky fraternity.

The death of the investigative journalist comes on the heels of similar killings going on in the country, some of which have been tagged as contract killing.It appears that the hoodlums in society have broken loose.

From the public response, it is clear that many are in shock and cannot believe that journalists can be shot and killed in Ghana for this work. We hear and see pictures of journalists being murdered in other countries and least expected it would happen right under our noses.

The Ghanaian Times has been worried about the bloodletting in the country, and two days ago we devoted our editorial, calling for collaboration with the police and called for volunteering of information on suspicious characters in our communities to help in crime detection, prevention and control.

The miscreants carrying out these wanton killings of innocent Ghanaians must be fished out and brought to book to account for their deeds. These criminals are not far away from us; they are hiding among us and carrying out such heinous crimes.

The killing of the investigative journalist comes at the time that participants at the New Year School, put the spot light on investigative journalism, calling for the passage of the Right to Information Bill, to allow for access to information to facilitate the work of journalism practice.

The Dean of School of Information and Communication Studies, Professor Audrey Gadzekpo, speaking on "Investigative Journalism, Corruption and Sustainable Development" on Wednesday, said, the work of investigative journalists in the country had been an eye-opener for the awareness of issues.

The professor in communication studies postulated that systematic wrongdoing in society warrants the "Anas style"of investigative journalism to get the right type of information needed to make a strong case, emphasising "You have to use auspicious ways to get information that could have been compromised by state officials."

We cannot agree more with Prof. Gadzekpo because indeed, investigative journalism has opened the eyes of the public to see what happens in society in the "dark" and the need to demand accountability and good governance from our leaders.

Although Suale's death is unfortunate, he has paid a high price for daring to expose bad guys in the Ghanaian society.

We are glad that Tiger Eye members are undaunted by his death and have vowed to soldier on and continue to demand accountability form all of us.

It is our expectation that the police would intensify their intelligence gathering and arrest the cold blooded murderers and bring them to book.

Enough of these killings! it must be stopped, Ghanaians must enjoy their right to safety!

Read Full Story