Attack on journalist: Under fire Yendi MP sends ‘personal threat’ to GJA president

The President of the Ghana Journalists Association, Albert Kwabena Dwumfuor has alleged receiving a personal threat from the Member of Parliament for Yendi Constituency, Farouk Aliu Mahama.

According to the GJA president, he received a text message from the MP on Tuesday, February 6, 2024, in which he deems Mahama’s words to be a personal threat.

“This morning, I woke up to Farouk Mahama’s message around five in the morning. He sent me a message ‘good morning, my lawyers are working on to sue the journalist and all involved also for defamation. Rest my case. The name of the game is evidence not just allegations,” the president told a press conference on Tuesday.

The revelation by Dwumfuor comes on the back of a journalist accusing the Yendi MP of physically assaulting him during a melee that characterised the recently held New Patriotic Party parliamentary primary in Yendi.

Dwumfuor noted that he has taken the MP's message to be a personal threat and will therefore threat it accordingly.

“We want to let him know that as journalists we don’t dwell on assumptions and suspicions. We only base on facts and evidence and I see this as a personal threat. Because if you want to go to court, go to court.

"Why sent me a personal message? You have no business in sending me a message. So if Honourable Farouk is listening, I see it as a personal threat and I will deal with it as such. We are ready to meet him in court and wherever he wants to take the matter to,” he said.

Farouk Aliu Mahama who has since denied the allegation of assault has threatened legal action against the journalist.

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However speaking at the press conference on Tuesday, the president of GJA 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.

“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,” they association said.



GA/SARA