THE Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), on Tuesday, welcomed delegates to the 2018 World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) celebration with a candle night-vigil at the Ghana International Press Centre in Accra. The event was attended by local and international journalists, as well as representatives of civil society organisations and traditional rulers.

They were treated to good highlife music, assorted drinks and buffet of Ghanaian dishes at the short but impressive ceremony, which was chaired by the Chairman of the National Media Commission, Nana Kwesi Gyan-Apenteng.

He said Ghana had earned the right to host this year’s WPFD because of the positive media environment. Ghana was ranked 23 in the world and first in Africa in the 2018 World Press Freedom Index released by Reporters Without Borders this week.

Nana Gyan-Apenteng, however, cautioned Ghanaian journalists not to take the press freedom given them for granted but instead guard it jealously in order to make more progress. The President of the GJA, Affail Monney, welcomed the delegates to the event and urged them to savour the proverbial Ghanaian hospitality.

He encouraged Ghanaian journalists to be proud of the country’s press freedom credentials, which had earned Ghana the hosting rights of WPFD. Mr Monney said unlike other countries where journalists were jailed for exercising their right to press freedom, in Ghana, no such case had happened since the repeal of the criminal libel law in 2001.

The Country Representative of UNESCO, Mr. Tirso Dos Santos, expressed his sincere gratitude to the GJA and the media in Ghana for upholding the freedom and independence of the press.

The highlight of the ceremony was the lighting of candles by all the participants, as they observed a minute’s silence in memory of journalists across the world who died in the line of duty during the year.

By Felicia Kwarteng