CPJ spoke with journalists involved in each incident to identify what, if any, justice they had received.
When Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama took office in January 2025, pledging to restore “an era of true media freedom,” journalists had reason to hope that attacks on the press would be taken more seriously than before.
But during Mr Mahama’s tenure, CPJ has documented eight separate incidents in which at least 17 journalists were attacked with almost complete impunity. Police, firefighters, and soldiers attacked eight of the journalists, while illegal miners and unidentified people attacked nine others.
“We need justice,” said reporter Samuel Addo, who was attacked by firefighters on 5 January while filming the aftermath of a market fire. “We are not safe.”
CPJ spoke with journalists involved in each incident to identify what, if any, justice they had received. Almost all called for law enforcement to ensure those responsible were swiftly arrested and prosecuted. Most also wished for authorities to communicate publicly about steps toward accountability. Yet, a lack of action has left them feeling unsafe and demotivated.
“I am a journalist by training. And so, there’s no way, you know, we’ll countenance the continued assault on journalists,” Mr Mahama told Ghana Broadcasting Corporation’s viewers during a visit to the state-owned broadcaster in January 2026.
“We need a reorientation of many of our security personnel to understand that just as they are doing their job of providing peace and safety, journalists are also doing their job of informing the people … Occasionally these things will come up. But when they come, they must be dealt with as firmly as possible,” he added.
When Mr Mahama was asked about Mr Addo’s case, he said he thought those involved had been identified and “interdicted.” CPJ and Mr Addo did not find any evidence of this.
On 3 June, communications minister Samuel Nartey George reiterated Mr Mahama’s commitment to media freedom, saying the president “views the press as the heart of the nation’s democracy.”
However, impunity for attacks on the press under Mr Mahama extends a broad pattern of abuse, including the unresolved murder in 2019 of investigative reporter Ahmed Divela.
Nothing changed when President Mahama took over,” said Charles Mensah, a TV producer attacked while covering elections in Ghana’s southern Ashanti region in 2025.
In each case, journalists told CPJ that they carried formal press identification, like their “Press” jackets and ID cards, or they explicitly identified themselves as journalists.
“They detained me after they knew that I was a journalist. So as a journalist I feel like I am not safe,” said Solomon Kanaluwe, a reporter who was beaten by soldiers in January.
“It has demotivated me from going out there to the fronts and risking my life,” he added.
After each attack, journalists said they reported what happened to the police.
But the only incident in which there was evidence of any justice was when a court ordered illegal miners to compensate a journalist whose equipment had been damaged.
Jacob Adu-Baah, Akwasi Annim, and Henry Emil confirmed the prosecution of the illegal miners who attacked them in 2025. Annim received compensation for his damaged equipment, as did the state.
The three journalists told CPJ they were disappointed that the court did not address the illegality of mining that they had been reporting on. Mr Adu-Baah said he had to take a month’s leave “to get a mental check before returning to work.”
While less high profile than the president’s televised claim that the firefighters were being held to account, police also raised false hopes of justice for reporter Kwabena Banahene.
Days after police attacked Mr Banahene as he was covering local elections in 2025, the online outlet 3News reported that a police officer was in detention for assault. Mr Banahene told CPJ that a police officer also showed him a written directive from Ghana’s attorney general indicating his attacker would be prosecuted.
But he has received no further news.
“I don’t know whether the matter is going on or not,” Mr Banahene told CPJ.
In all other cases, journalists received no updates from authorities. Some felt that effective investigations were unlikely where soldiers had been the perpetrators.
“The armed forces said they are investigating. Nobody has contacted me,” said Mr Kanaluwe. “Even the police. When we reported, they followed me to where it happened and said they would get back to me. Since then, I have not received any calls or messages from them.”
Military officers also beat journalists Tahiru Ibrahim and Dokurugu Alhassan as they were filming a bus on fire. The journalists said the police told them that they could not intervene in actions by the military. Mr Alhassan said he had received no follow up.
“It has affected me very negatively,” MrAlhassan told CPJ, describing his fear of reporting from scenes where security forces are present. “Sometimes there will be news in town, and when you see the people involved, you can’t go there … when you go, they will beat you up again.”
Ghana Armed Forces’ acting director-general of public relations, Veronica Arhin, asked CPJ to send a written request for comment to the Chief of Defence Staff William Agyapong. CPJ’s email to the address listed on the Ghana Armed Forces website received no reply. CPJ’s calls and text messages to police director of public affairs Grace Ansah-Akrofi requesting comment received no response.
Here are details of the 17 journalists’ cases since President Mahama took office, and what, if any, justice they received:
More details here...
