The ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) has reacted to the blacklisting of its Member of Parliament for Yendi, Farouk Mahama, by the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA).

Speaking in an interview on Adom FM, on Wednesday, February 7, 2024, the Communication Director of the NPP, Richard Ahiagbah, said that the GJA blacklisted the MP for supposedly abusing a journalist without a piece of evidence.

He urged the association to provide the needed proof that the MP actually abused the journalist in question.

“There is no evidence. And I’m not of sure the position of the GJA, either they are proceeding with some evidence or the comment of the journalist that he was slapped.

“And if that is the case, then they must show us that this is the evidence – this is what shows that he (the MP) slapped him (the journalist). So, that the appropriate decisions would be taken,” he said in the Twi dialect.

The communication director indicated that the MP has denied the claim and has asked the journalist in question to withdraw his accusation.

“In fact, the MP has taken the position that he is taking the matter to court. He has given him (the journalist) the opportunity to retract his claim that he abused him. If does not retract, he will proceed to court,” he said.

Ahiagbah also urged the GJA to show restraint with their decision to blacklist people, saying that it comes with no benefits.

“The other day, I heard that they had blacklisted our mother, Hawa Koomson. Where is this from, why has she been blacklisted?” he queried.

Background:

A journalist accused the Yendi MP of physically assaulting him during a melee that characterised the recently held New Patriotic Party parliamentary primary in Yendi.

Speaking at the press conference on Tuesday, February 6, 2024, the president of GJA, Albert Kwabena Dwumfour, called on media houses in the country to blacklist the MP.

He also issued a 10-day ultimatum to the Ghana Police Service and the New Patriotic Party noting that the GJA and its allied bodies including the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA), Private Newspaper Publishers Association of Ghana (PRINPAG), and the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), will advise themselves if action is not taken against the MP.

“We are giving the NPP, Regional and National, and the Ghana Police Service ten (10) days ultimatum each to hear from them. They should arrest the perpetrators. If they fail, we shall advise ourselves. The NPP leadership at the National and Regional levels must seek justice for our colleague, Mohammed Amin Alabira by sanctioning the MP and his hoodlums appropriately.

“The Ghana Police Service should speed up investigations into the case and arraign the perpetrators before court to face the full rigours of the law for their distasteful conduct. This time, the policemen and women are witnesses to the incident as it happened,” he said.

BAI/OGB

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