NDC not involved in any plot

THE National Democratic Congress (NDC) has denied any involvement in an alleged plot to harm and harass journalists in the country.

It has, therefore, called on journalists to continue to go about their lawful activities without any fear of attacks from any of its members.

This was contained in a statement signed by the Chairman of the Media Committee of the NDC, Mr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, in Accra yesterday in reaction to media reports that Mr Kweku Baako Jnr and a female lecturer in Journalism, Mrs Amoakohene, have been targeted for attack.

The news media had linked an individual who is supposedly a member of the NDC or close to the former President with a document and the alleged campaign against the journalists.

The statement noted that none of the allegations made by the journalists has there been a claim that the NDC as a party has any hand in the production of the said document .

“ As of now, the NDC is strongly convinced that there is no evidence of any plot to harass or harm any journalist. The nearest to the allegations being raised is a ONE paragraph outline of a proposed open letter that Mr Victor Smith of the former President’s office helped to draft for an individual who intended to have it published in the newspapers. That individual had expressed concern over negative media reports about the former President,” it said.

The NDC, according to the statement, wondered how a “ONE-paragraph handwritten draft of a letter to an editor, clearly intended for public consumption, could be stretched into a dark and sinister plot to harm or injure journalist”.

“ The fact that the NPP government, through a statement issued by the Minister of Information and Presidential Affairs , has jumped on this allegation and attempted to milk it for all its propaganda value is only one obvious sign of the political motivation which underlies the whole incident, the statement said. The statement gave an instance that a new story, provided by official sources , that Mr Victor Smith, aide to the former President, had been arrested on Monday March 25, for questioning by security agencies turned out to be totally false.

It said while the party cannot prevent any of its members aggrieved by false and persistent malicious reports about the party and its founder from writing to the offending media or journalist to take notice of their concerns, “it does not support any activities that will cause physical harm to journalists.”

“ The party, therefore, unreservedly condemns any such planned acts of physical harassment of journalists and urges all its members to continue to assist in the official policy of developing better relations with the mass media and with journalists,” the statement said.

It demanded that the “ONE-paragraph draft of the letter that is causing this brouhaha be published in all media, so that all Ghanaians can form their own opinions about these wild allegations”.