The Ghana Journalists’ Association (GJA) has honoured Dr. Charles Wereko-Brobbey, a pioneer of private media in Ghana, for his exceptional role in championing media freedom in the country.
Tarzan, as he is popularly known, is one of the many people who took up the charge to champion Ghana’s media freedom and propel its democracy.
On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day 2025, marked on May 3, where the GJA honoured some individuals who led the press freedom cause in Ghana, the President of the Association, Albert Kwabena Dwumfour, indicated in his speech that although the Association was honouring some individuals for their past roles, others deserved more recognition.
He also disclosed that the honour was not going to be conferred just for this year but would be marked on the Association’s calendar so that other individuals could also be recognised.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we acknowledge that there are many individuals and institutions who deserve to be honoured but who are not on our list tonight. That does not take anything away from the recognition of their significant contribution to press freedom and media development.
“The reality is that we cannot accommodate all of them tonight, and it is our intention to make this initiative a permanent feature on the GJA Calendar. So, hopefully, others will be duly honoured next year,” Dwumfour stated.
For his exceptional role in pioneering press freedom in Ghana, the GJA President underscored the need to honour the man by naming the ‘Best Radio News Reporter’ award of the Annual GJA Awards after him.
“Ladies and gentlemen, it is, however, instructive to note that even among those we are honouring today, there are some of them who deserve additional honour for their exceptional roles in the promotion of press freedom. In that regard, we intend to name the Best Radio News Reporter category of the GJA Awards after Dr Charles Wereko-Brobbey for his pioneering role in the promotion of press freedom, particularly the establishment of private radio.
“We are aware that many other individuals were behind the establishment of Radio Eye, but we believe the man, popularly called Tarzan, has been the face of Radio Eye. In naming this award after Dr Wereko-Brobbey, we only seek to immortalise him. We believe it is important to find some other means of honouring achievers of our time,” he stated.
The theme for this year’s World Press Freedom Day was “Reporting in the brave new world – The impact of artificial intelligence on press freedom and the media”, with Ghana’s own focused on “Celebrating champions of press freedom and Ghana’s media growth; building a resilient media in the AI era”.
Full text: Speech by GJA President Albert Dwumfour to mark World Press Freedom Day
