Tulips of Herald

 By Shine Esi Kwawukumey  Ghana is often praised as a model for press freedom in West Africa, with a Constitution that guarantees media independence, rejects censorship, and protects journalists from intimidation. But beyond the global rankings and commendations, many reporters covering the country’s most sensitive and volatile stories still rely on little more than a notebook, a phone, and their own courage. From election grounds and protest marches to illegal mining sites, corruption exposés and crime scenes, journalists work largely without insurance, protective equipment, digital security tools or formal safety training. For many, the risk is not hypothetical. It is physical, psychological and, in some cases, life-altering. Interviews with journalists, editors, regulators, lawyers and security experts point to a stark contradiction at the heart of Ghana’s media ecosystem: safety is often an afterthought, acknowledged forcefully only after an attack. Jonathan Rozen, CPJ “De...

 By Shine Esi Kwawukumey  Gloria Hiadzi Family, friends and Ghana’s media fraternity today gathered at the Christ The King Catholic Church to bid farewell to Gloria Hiadzi, celebrating her enduring legacy as advocate for press freedom. The solemn burial service drew journalists, broadcasters, civil society actors and policymakers who came not only to mourn but to honour a woman widely regarded as a steady pillar in Ghana’s broadcasting landscape. Hymns filled the sanctuary as tributes painted the portrait of a life defined by service, humility and conviction. As former Executive Secretary of the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA), Madam Hiadzi was remembered for steering the Association with diligence and strategic insight. She stood firmly at the intersection of policy, practice and principle, insisting that independent broadcasting was central to Ghana’s democratic architecture. In a glowing tribute, the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) described her passin...

 By Shine Esi Kwawukumey  H.E. President John Dramani Mahama President John Dramani Mahama yesterday cast Ghana’s recovery as inseparable from Africa’s self-reliance, using his State of the Nation Address to push a bold continental sovereignty agenda. Such bold pan africanist declaration was first made by Ghana's founder, Dr Kwame Nkrumah at the nation's birth.  He said Ghana's independence was linked to the total liberation of the African continent, which was under colonial rule and exploitation.  Sixty nine years later, a man born a year later, told Ghana's Parliament that while economic stabilisation at home was gaining ground, the broader mission was to reposition Ghana within a confident, coordinated Africa capable of shaping its own destiny in a rapidly shifting global order. “Ghana is back. Ghana is working again and is open for business,” he declared, but quickly added that national resurgence must feed into what he termed the Accra Reset, a framework aimed a...

By Shine Esi Kwawukumey  Ebo Taylor is dead.  The legendary highlife and Afrobeat musician whose career spanned more than six decades, blending traditional Ghanaian rhythms with jazz, funk and global influences, bid his fans farewell in a rather unusual way.  Mr Taylor died on 7 February 2026 at 90 years old, just one day after the soft launch of EboFest, a festival created in his honour and held at Alliance Française in Accra on Friday, 6 February.  Born Deroy “Ebo” Taylor on 6 January 1936 in Cape Coast, Taylor rose to prominence in the late 1950s as a guitarist and bandleader with influential ensembles such as the Stargazers and the Broadway Dance Band.  He later took his Black Star Highlife Band to London, where he worked with pioneering Nigerian Afrobeat artist Fela Kuti, before returning to Ghana to produce recordings for major artists and refine his signature fusion sound.  Over his long and distinguished career, Taylor became known as a central figu...

 By Shine Esi Kwawukumey  What began as a young teacher’s memory of a struggling rural school has come full circle thirty-three years later. Kofi Yeboah, a communication lecturer at Wisconsin International University College, Ghana, has fulfilled a long-held dream by donating about 700 books to Miaso Krobo D/A Basic School in the Fanteakwa North District of the Eastern Region, the very school where he once served as a national service teacher in 1992. The books, which include storybooks for the lower primary and textbooks for Basic 1 to 9, were presented at a colourful durbar attended by traditional leaders, education officials, teachers, parents, and pupils. “I still remember the classrooms made of mud with palm fronds as roofing.  Anytime it got cloudy, classes had to close because when the heavens opened up, it also rained inside the classroom,” Mr. Yeboah recalled, his voice filled with nostalgia. “It has always been my wish to return to this school, and I’m happy tha...

By Shine Esi Kwawukumey The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) on Saturday, October 11, 2025, climaxed the West Africa Media Excellence Conference and Awards (WAMECA) with a grand ceremony at the Alisa Hotel in Accra, celebrating outstanding journalists from across the sub-region for excellence, ethics, and impact in journalism. The event, which concluded two days of discussions on “Journalism and Digital Public Infrastructure in Africa,” drew over 200 guests, including journalists, diplomats, civil society leaders, and development partners. Ghana’s Minister of Communications, Digital Technology and Innovations, Hon. Samuel Nartey George, was the special guest of honour.  In an impassioned, unscripted address, he extended a warm Ghanaian welcome to participants and delivered frank reflections on the current state of journalism in Ghana, revealing that one of his first actions as minister was the closure of 63 radio stations for regulatory violations. He stressed that the move ...