Mr. Joseph Whittal, the Commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has expressed his commitment and readiness to partner with the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) for effective dissemination of issues and information from the commission.
The CHRAJ boss explained that this partner was necessary as it would make perceptions of lack of information from CHRAJ, a thing of the past.
He made the commitment in Accra on Thursday, April 28, 2023, when the GJA President and his Executives paid a courtesy call on him.
“We need to work together to disseminate information for the Greater good of Ghana and the people involved. We want to use the medium of GJA to address some of the issues that come before us”, Mr. Whittal stressed.
He explained that if the partnership was long in force, some of the investigations they’ve conducted in the past would have received massive media attention which will get the public apprised of CHRAJ issues.
The CHRAJ boss further revealed that Article 287 mandates the Commission to investigate allegations of conflicts of interest and human rights Abuses in the country.
He added that ordinarily, after any investigation, they issue the report to the persons being investigated for them to make it public maintaining however that, that policy has not been helpful as far as information dissemination is concerned.
He, therefore, appealed to the GJA to make a media buzz around the Commission so that the public can swiftly access information from CHRAJ.
He later revealed that the Commission would host the Africa Rights Conference in Accra where he would be elevated from Chairman of the West African Rights Commission to Chairman of the Africa Rights Commission.
GJA President
On his part the GJA President, Mr. Albert Dwumfour who, in his preliminary statement said the visit was to discuss areas of mutual benefit for the two institutions stressed later that the GJA was ever ready to support the Commission to deliver on its mandate as far as publicity is concerned.
“We pride ourselves as the watchdog of the country so we need to collaborate with you and support you since you contribute to the strengthening of democracy in Ghana”, Mr. Dwumfour stated.
CHRAJ Commissioner
On issues of low media attention on the Commission, he advised the CHRAJ Boss to henceforth release their reports on “bigger platforms” adding that this would help change the narrative.
The GJA President later assured the Commission of GJA’s resolve to make the pre-event of the October Africa Rights Conference a mega one by rallying media support for the event to help drive media traffic.
Mr. Dwumfour also seized the opportunity to invite the CHRAJ boss to deliver a message at the 2023 World Press Freedom Day Celebration scheduled for Wednesday, May 3, 2023, at the International Press Centre.