Tears as slain Ghanaian journalist is buried

Ahmed Hussein-Suale, Ghanaian investigative journalist who was shot dead on Wednesday, has been buried.

Hussein-Suale was buried in a public cemetery at Madina, a suburb of Accra in Ghana.

Before his demise, the journalist was a member of the investigative journalism team working with Tiger Eye in Ghana.

He was said to be on his way home when gunmen on a motorbike opened fire on his vehicle in Madina area of Accra, shooting him twice in the chest and once in the head.

According to MyNewsGh.com, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, owner of Tiger Eye, and his team were among hundreds of mourners who witnessed the burial ceremony.

A requiem in accordance with the Islamic custom was held for the late journalist at his family home, with mourners praying for his peaceful repose before his body was taken to the cemetery for interment.

Meanwhile, the coalition for Whistleblowers Protection and Press Freedom (CWPPF) has condemned, in strong terms, the murder of the journalist.

In a statement on Friday, the coalition described his death as another attempt to incapacitate the press from performing its constitutionally guaranteed function.

According to the statement, the death of Husseini-Suale is the culmination of months of violent threats to members of Tiger Eye, “whose management had asked the world to prevail on Ghanaian authorities to guarantee their safety and allow them carry out their functions”.

The coalition said the death of the investigative journalist is the first in the line of duty in recent times in Africa, while expressing alarm over the “escalation of over 300 reported cases of attacks and harassment of journalists in 2018-2019 as recorded by the Press Attack Tracker”.

The CWPPF labelled the attacks as a major threat to democracy, freedom of the press, individual liberties of journalists and other media professionals worldwide.

It, therefore, called on the Ghanaian government to investigate the injustice and bring the culprits to justice.