Opinions of Monday, 12 November 2018

Columnist: Bright Kofi Ntim

So what happened to Mahama's security detail who slapped Joy News journo?

Kwesi Parker-Wilson Kwesi Parker-Wilson

Is ex-president Mahama shielding his security detailed who assaulted JOY FM journalist Kwesi Parker-Wilson?

It’s been two weeks since Joy Fm’s political reporter Kwesi Parker-Wilson was assaulted by a security detail of Ex-president John Mahama at the Pentecost University at Sowutuom.

Kwesi Parker-Wilson, a Senior Multimedia Journalist with The Multimedia Group’s Joy FM/JoyNews, among other things, sought to get an exclusive interview with the former President after the former president addressed delegates and students at the University’s assembly hall on the occasion of his 5-day campaign tour in the capital, Accra.

After addressing the delegates the former president was said to have had a meeting with the School’s authorities.

Kwesi Parker-Wilson decided to follow the ex-president for his exclusive interview but the security at the entrance would, however, not allow Parker-Wilson into the building as they claimed it wasn’t open to the media.

An attempt by Parker-Wilson to explain to the security officer that he was with the ex-President and had been covering all his activities did not go down well with him. “You are challenging my authority” he quoted the security detail as saying.

The assault left the Joy FM journalist visibly bruised with part of his face swollen and his right eye teary with pain. Upon being notified of the incident, the ex-President is said to have personally approached the trembling reporter to apologize.

The former president assured the journalist of an identification parade to ID his assaulter for the necessary punishment to be meted out to the rogue security detail who is a member of the NDC’s vigilante group THE HAWKS.

Two weeks after the incident the former president and his campaign team have flagrantly disregarded their promise by conducting investigations into the assault against Kwesi Parker-Wilson neither have they assembled the security guards for identification.