GJA accepts Mahama’s request to organise national forum on hate speech

The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has accepted President John Dramani Mahama’s request to organise a national forum on hate speech, its president, Albert Kwabena Dwumfour, has said.

Mr Dwumfour said the GJA and the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) had formally written to the Presidency to accept the assignment and had set up a technical committee to develop a framework for the exercise.

President Mahama, who has expressed concern about the increasing incidents of hate speech, had asked the GJA, the MFWA and other stakeholders to organise a forum to discuss ways of addressing the issue.

Speaking to Kwame Dadzie on Joy FM’s Showbiz A-Z on Saturday, 10th October 2026, Mr Dwumfour said the Association was ready to undertake the assignment.

“Me, I am a go getter. Everybody who knows me will tell you. The President knows that the can-do spirit is there. We were even together at the United Nations when the letter came out and all that.

“I had the opportunity to meet with him and shed more light on his expectation of us and all that. This week we officially wrote to the Presidency accepting that responsibility, that assignment. We had a joint letter head with the Media Foundation for West Africa,” he noted.

He added that the organisations involved had already constituted a technical committee to begin work on the assignment.

“We had our first meeting last Thursday to look at the framework and roadmap that the President has requested for.”

Mr Dwumfour said the organisations would meet the President in the coming week to discuss the outcome of their first meeting, after which they would make the details public.

“So the national forum on hate speech is going to happen. The timelines will be shared and all that. We are going to have stakeholder engagements,” he said.

The recent cases of hate speech, insults, misinformation and disinformation have raised serious concerns among Ghanaians.

While some have argued that insults should not be criminalised, others believe stricter measures are necessary to preserve the country’s cultural values.

There are also concerns that the advent of social media is eroding some of the core values and virtues of Ghanaian society.

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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.