The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), has declared a media blackout on the Member of Parliament for Yendi, Farouk Aliu Mahama. The president of the association, Albert Dwumfour has asked all journalists to boycott the MP.
This comes after allegations that the Member of Parliament had slapped a Citi FM reporter during a moment of chaos at the New Patriotic Party’s Parliamentary Primaries in Yendi. The MP has denied the allegation.
At a news conference, the president of the GJA said the time has come to put a stop to assaults on journalists in Ghana.
“It appears there is a sense of impunity that gives these public officials the impression that they can attack or cause an attack on journalists and get away with it. We cannot be cowards and intimidated by such loads of hot air threats. The courts are not in the bosom of any politician for them to think that their negative acts will be condoned by the courts,” he said.
Join our WhatsApp Channel for more news
He further indicated that Aliu Mahama sent him a personal threat through text messages and dared the Member of Parliament to carry out the threat to sue GJA.
“We are ready to meet him in court and wherever he wants to take the matter. If Aliu Mahama does not sue the umbrella bodies be it GJA, Media Foundation, or Citi, we will sue him,” he added.
Aliu Mahama is the second Member of Parliament to be boycotted by the media after Hawa Koomson, the Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture Development.
The Ghana Journalists Association, the Media Foundation for West Africa. (MFWA) and other concerned bodies have joined forces to guard the rights and interests of journalists from assaults in the quest to promote media freedom.
