GJA and Wereko-Brobbey Standoff -No End in Sight

There seems to be no end in sight to the standoff between the Ghana Journalists Association and the government's Energy Adviser, Dr Charles Wereko Brobbey. Dr Wereko-Brobbey has stated emphatically that he will not apologise to the GJA, whose ethics committee found bribery allegations he made against Ghanaian journalists as baseless.

In the heat of the controversy over the Sahara Oil lifting contract, Dr Wereko-Brobbey in an interview on Joy FM's Super Morning Show said opponents of government, had bribed some journalists to conduct investigations into the deal.

After several weeks of investigations, the GJA ethics committee has ruled that Dr Wereko-Brobbey should apologise for making those baseless claims. GJA President, Gifty Afenyi-Dadzie says an apology from Dr Wereko-Brobbey will show a mark of his maturity.

"Everybody at a point in time goofs but retraction and apology puts issues to rest. Mr. Wereko Brobbey is not an ordinary person, he is the government's Energy Advisor and for him to say that journalists have collected bribes is a serious allegation. It will show maturity if he apologises," she noted.

Dr Wereko-Brobbey has however expressed surprise at the committee's decision saying it ignored information he provided to substantiate his allegation. In a statement to the media, Dr. Wereko Brobbey said he had cited two specific incidents, which he believes provided credible basis for his comments.

According to him, he also offered to arrange for the chairman of the ethics committee to meet with one of the key players he cited, but they failed to take up any of his offers and conduct a comprehensive investigation into the matter. " I stand by what I said. I have not attacked the GJA, I have not attacked any journalists and I expect them to investigate the information I provided rather than asking me to apologise.

Meanwhile, the controversy over the Sahara Oil lifting contract seems to have been laid to rest. In spite of opposition demands, President Kufuor has said he will not launch an investigation into how a Nigerian oil company, Sahara Oil Resources, was awarded the contract to lift oil from Nigeria to Ghana.