West Africa Editors Society is concerned over safety of journalists in Ghana as military officers assault journalist

The West Africa Editors Society (WAES) has expressed concern for the safety of journalists in Ghana following the attack on and assault of a journalist by soldiers.

In a statement issued January 27, 2026 and copied to Ghana Business News, the Society, a regional body representing editors in West Africa; and affiliate of The African Editors Forum said the unprovoked assault on the journalist, Solomon Kanaluwe, the North East Regional Correspondent of Media General, by military officers who detained and subjected him to severe beatings using sticks, leaving his body with lacerations and wounds is a threat to the safety of journalists and press freedom in Ghana.

It says further that it is alarmed at the unending attacks on journalists in Ghana by state security officers, and the seeming inaction of the authorities to stop it.

“The Society is therefore calling on the Ghanaian authorities to do the needful, rein in the officers, investigate the cases and sanction those found culpable,” the statement said.

WAES cited a recent incident where officers of the Ghana National Fire Service assaulted another journalist.

“It was barely a month ago when officers of the Ghana National Fire Service assaulted another journalist, Samuel Addo of the Class Media Group in Kasoa. While there is no closure yet to the matter, officers of the military have been cited in another case of assault of a journalist,” the group indicated.

It says it is dissatisfied with how the authorities have been handling cases of police, fire service and military officers arresting, assaulting and detaining journalists while they do their work.

“The primary role of state security officers is to protect life and property and preserve the peace. It is however, unconscionable that Ghanaian state security agents find pleasure in subjecting journalists to beatings, in the line of duty,” the group said.

According to WAES, Ghana occupies an enviable place among its peers in Africa and around the world as a good example of a country that is raising the bar for democratic practices, but the repeated misconduct of state security officers is increasingly becoming a blot on the country’s reputation.

“The West Africa Editors Society is therefore calling on the authorities to act as a matter of urgency and responsibility to end these unpalatable happenings involving state security officers,” the statement said.

By Peter Mensah

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