By Anthony Adongo Apubeo
Bolgatanga, Oct. 6, GNA – Mr Albert Sore, Upper East Regional Chairman of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), has urged journalists to go beyond highlighting societal problems to documenting solutions, following up on commitments and holding duty-bearers accountable.
He said journalism should not end with reporting the commissioning of projects, shortages or government announcements, but should involve sustained investigations to establish whether interventions were addressing the challenges they were intended to solve.
Mr Sore made the call at the 5th Upper East Regional GJA Awards in Bolgatanga, held on the theme: “Beyond the Headlines: The Media’s Role in Promoting WASH for Safe Motherhood and Quality Healthcare.”
He said journalists had a responsibility to visit health facilities, ask critical questions and investigate whether they had running water, functional toilets and adequate sanitation and hygiene facilities, particularly for women during childbirth.
“And importantly, we must go beyond highlighting problems to documenting solutions, holding duty-bearers accountable and following up on commitments,” he said.
Mr Sore said the media had a critical role to play in promoting development by ensuring that issues reported remained on the public agenda until meaningful solutions were found.
He said the theme for the awards was deliberately chosen to encourage journalists to use their platforms to promote water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and safe motherhood.
Mr Sore said WASH facilities were fundamental to safe healthcare and human dignity and urged journalists to move beyond event-based reporting to investigate the conditions under which healthcare was delivered.
Dr Braimah Baba Abubakari, Upper East Regional Director of the Ghana Health Service, reinforced the call and urged journalists to sustain coverage of development challenges and amplify solutions.
He urged journalists to “tell the human story behind the statistic,” saying although statistics were important, human experiences could help audiences better understand the impact of development challenges.
“Do not visit a facility once and move on. Return after a season and ask whether the promised borehole was drilled, whether the budget line was spent, whether the toilet block is being used,” he said.
Dr Abubakari said journalists must also hold the health sector, assemblies, contractors and development partners accountable through balanced reporting based on verified facts.
He urged the media to give prominence to successful interventions as much as they highlighted challenges, saying success stories could demonstrate what was possible and encourage other communities to adopt effective practices.
“When a community ends open defecation, when a facility achieves a consistent water supply, or when a district reduces diarrhoeal cases, that is news too,” he said.
The Regional Director called on journalists to make WASH and maternal health priority areas of coverage, noting that every mother who delivered safely and every child who survived and thrived was a story worth telling.
Mr Charles Bawa-Dua, Member of Parliament for Bongo, who spoke on behalf of Mr James Agalga, Leader of the Upper East Members of Parliament, also encouraged journalists to investigate the utilisation of resources allocated for WASH development.
He specifically urged journalists to investigate how the 10 per cent of the District Assemblies Common Fund reportedly allocated to WASH was being utilised at the district level.
Mr Bawa-Dua said journalists could help improve accountability by tracking whether such resources were being used for water, sanitation and health infrastructure rather than for other activities.
GNA
Edited by Caesar Abagali/Bertha Badu-Agyei/Lydia Kukua Asamoah
Reporter: Anthony Adongo Apubeo
Reporter’s email: [email protected]
October 6, 2026