Vice President John Dramani Mahama, on Monday said
Government was not interested in muzzling the press and had no hand in the police debacle with the managements of Joy FM and the Ghanaian Times.
�We are not interested in seeing journalists jailed for their views or merely because they said something which the authorities do not agree with,� he added.
In a speech read on his behalf by Information Minister John Tia Akologu, at the first two-day Ghanaian Times National Development Forum in Accra, Vice President Mahama said �a government that succeeds in putting a journalist in jail only succeeds in giving birth to a dozen others more critical�.
The forum on the theme: �Re-orientation for Accelerated Development� is to find lasting solution to the country�s myriad economic, social and political issues facing the country
Vice President Mahama noted that the impression that as a nation, people talked too much and did very little was the height of cynicism because Rome was not built in a day.
He said that great economies of the world did not achieve their almost miraculous turn-around by sudden flight or an overnight leap.
According to the Vice President, talking was preferable to war because people who did not talk tended to settle every misunderstanding with the gun or machete and commended the management of Ghanaian Times for the forum and asked them not to shelf the outcome of the forum.
Mr Akologu said that concerning the oil find and its associated challenges, government would take such discourse and debates seriously since
they had the potential to churn out workable and tailored solutions specific to the Ghanaian context.
He reiterated government�s stance with the media and noted that there could not be democracy without a vibrant and robust media.
Mr Akologu said �We are convinced that even a press that makes mistakes is better than no press at all. There is evidence that wherever the press was gagged, corruption and human right abuses thrive�.
He expressed worry about the rate of indiscipline and said people who build on waterways blame government when flood cause havoc to property.
Mr Akologu charged the media to support the fight against indiscipline adding �It is only when the media is seen to be waging a sustained war against indiscipline that we can overcome these negative attitudes�.
The Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Georgina Wood noted that though much had been done in setting up special courts and client services unit where the public could make complains among others a lot more needed to be done to make the public reposed in the judiciary their uttermost trust.
According to her, lack of trust was a tragedy and called on the judiciary to be nation builders and follow modern trends, saying that anyone who rejected change was an architect of decay.
Pastor Mensah Otabil, General Overseer of International Central Gospel Church, who spoke on the topic �New Wine in New Wine Skins� said Africans needed to renew their minds and desist from the old and primitive ways of doing things.
�Despite the end of the slave trade which thrived on Africa�s disregard for human value, the trade continued to define Africa�s trade across the world always giving foreigners the upper hand, �he said.
Pastor Otabil said that the future of Africa should not lie in the boardrooms of multinationals.
He asked the people to respect law and order and noted �we need a constructive shift to become a productive people and system, we need to ask questions and look for answers to change our society�.
Pastor Otabil bemoaned the use of such themes as violence, abuse, witchcraft, wife battering and all the negative perceptions of Africa saying it did promote Africa�s cause.
Board Chairman, Mr David Newton expressed the hope that the forum which would be annual affair would dialogue and make concrete decisions to transform the nation.
Mr Kabral Blay Amihere, Chairman of National Media Commission (NMC), welcomed government�s assurance that it was not interested in muzzling the press adding that �the NMC welcomes media dialogues that promote development.�