Benin City, Edo State – Civil Empowerment & Rule of Law Support Initiative, CERLSI, has called on the Ghanaian government to constitute a panel of inquiry into the gruesome assassination of notable Ghanaian investigative journalist, Ahmed Hussein.
Ahmed Hussein was recently killed in the capital city of Accra Ghana while he was going back home from work. He was part of the undercover team led by award-winning journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas, whose investigations revealed deep-level corruption in the sports sector of that country.
That investigation had a ripple effect, implicated and led to the suspension of Nigerian football coach Salisu Yusuf, caught on camera seeking a bribe from supposed football agents.
“Ahmed’s work as an investigative journalist was exemplary. The activities of many investigative journalists around the world as Ahmed’s is what helps democracy and the Rule of Law thrive.
This sad loss of Ahmed comes at a time when investigative journalists are in very short supply and are in great demand in badly managed economies.
Investigative journalism is what ECOWAS states need for justice, openness, accountability and fairness to come full circle in governance, ”Bob MajiriOghene Etemiku, CERLSI deputy executive director said.
Over the years, he noted, journalists and indeed investigative journalists, often receive threats leading to their deaths. Reporters without Borders has said on its website that more professional journalists were killed worldwide in connection with their work in the first nine months of 2018 than in all of 2017.
“Ahmed’s unfortunate death must be thoroughly investigated and his assassins brought to book. Deaths of investigative journalists at the hands of unscrupulous persons and institutions seeking to perpetrate impunity and opacity must be brought to an end,” Mr. Etemiku said.
