Renowned Ghanaian journalist and former Editor of The Ghanaian Times, Ajoa Yeboah-Afari, has been honoured at the 2025 World Press Freedom Day Honours Night held last Friday in Accra.
The ceremony, organised by the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), as part of the global commemoration of World Press Freedom Day, celebrated individuals whose contributions had significantly advanced media freedom, integrity, and independence in Ghana and beyond.
Honoured together with 23 others, Ms Yeboah-Afari, received the recognition for her lifelong dedication to journalistic excellence and her fearless advocacy for press freedom during some of Ghana’s most repressive political eras.
She was presented with a citation acknowledging her pivotal role as one of three Ghanaian participants at the historic 1991 UNESCO Windhoek Seminar on promoting an independent and pluralistic African press—a landmark event that laid the foundation for the declaration of World Press Freedom Day in 1993.
The citation read in part:
“You were one of three participants from Ghana invited by UNESCO to attend the historic 1991 Windhoek Seminar… As the only surviving member of the trio… you have kept faith with the tenets of press freedom over the years… your reportage, through your foreign media platforms, kept Ghanaians tuned-in [during] the ‘Culture of Silence’… In recognition and appreciation of your pioneering role in the advancement of press freedom and independent journalism in Ghana, the GJA honours you, Ajoa Yeboah-Afari, with this citation.”
The two other Ghanaian participants at the seminar—Prof. P. A. V. Ansah and John Nyankumah—have since passed away, making Ms Yeboah-Afari the sole surviving Ghanaian representative of that historical gathering.
Widely regarded as a trailblazer in Ghana’s media landscape, Ajoa Yeboah-Afari is a former editor of The Ghanaian Times and a past president of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), with a distinguished career spanning both local and international media platforms.
Her courageous journalism during the era dubbed the “Culture of Silence” earned her acclaim for amplifying Ghanaian voices when local media freedoms were curtailed.
This year’s World Press Freedom Day, themed “Reporting in the brave new world: The impact of Artificial Intelligence on press freedom and the media,” brought together media professionals, civil society actors, and government stakeholders to reflect on the state of press freedom and the evolving challenges of journalism in Ghana.
BY STEPHANIE BIRIKORANG
