GJA to petition Speaker Bagbin over Farouk Mahama’s assault on Citi News journalist

The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has announced plans to petition the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, over the assault on Citi TV/FM’s Northern Regional correspondent Mohammed Aminu M. Alabira by Farouk Mahama, the Member of Parliament for Yendi.

Albert Dwumfour, the President of GJA, stated that they are in the process of arranging a meeting with Mr. Bagbin to bring the Yendi MP before the House’s Privileges Committee.

The GJA previously issued a ten-day ultimatum to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the Ghana Police Service, demanding action on the assault on Mr Alabira by the Yendi MP.

Mr. Mahama and his team were accused of attacking Alabira while he was reporting on the disruption of the NPP’s parliamentary primary in the Yendi constituency on January 27, 2024.

On February 6, the GJA, along with other organizations including the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA), the Private Newspaper Publishers Association of Ghana (PRINPAG), and the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), warned that they would take further action if the NPP and police did not respond to the issue.

These groups urged the NPP leadership at both the National and Regional levels to seek justice for Mr Alabira by penalizing the MP and his associates. They also called on the police to expedite their investigation into the case and bring the culprits to court to face justice for their unacceptable behaviour.

However, the ultimatum ended on Friday, February 16, 2024.

In an interview on Citi FM, Mr Dwumfour stated that the Association’s subsequent actions would be announced next week.

He also highlighted their plans to meet with the Speaker and pursue civil actions.

“As we speak now we are to meet with the speaker, we are trying to seek an audience with the speaker to formally and officially present a petition to haul the MP before the Privileges Committee.

“Again, we have still indicated that the blackout is still in force on Mr Farouk Mahama…We have options available to us aside from the call on the speaker, aside from the criminal prosecution we are also weighing the option of also taking civil action. By next week our position will be made public,” he stated.