GJA bares teeth over attack on Cape Coast FM journalist

The President of the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA), Mr Albert Kwabena Dwumfour has asked the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to immediately investigate and sanction the attackers of Daniel Kobbena , a journalist working with Cape Coast FM.

He also called on the Ghana Police to look into the incident and prosecute the culprits adding that the media should take keen interest in branding themselves at various locations to avoid any unnecessary embarrassment in the upcoming elections.

Mr Albert Kwabena Dwumfour made the call at a news conference held on Monday, January 8, 2024.

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He narrated that, “Last Thursday, four days into the year, an incident occurred in Cape Coast, the Central Regional capital, that clearly confirms the intel we had received. At the Central Regional vetting of parliamentary aspirants of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), held at the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) in Cape Coast, some thugs, numbering about 15 and wearing a branded T-shirt of Mavis Hawa Koomson, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Awutu-Senya East, pounced on David Kobbena, a morning show host of Cape FM, and beat him mercilessly without provocation.”

He continued, “David Kobbena, aka Ohene Kwame David, was said to be sitting under a shed at the RCC. The thugs mistook him for another person they alleged had insulted the MP, who is also the Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture Development. On the basis of that mistaken identity, a man believed to be a police officer invited the unsuspecting David to a distance and sought to confirm that mistaken identity. David denied it and produced his media house ID Card as evidence to support his denial. But in the process of doing so, someone slapped him from behind and other thugs joined in the assault, beating him mercilessly.”

Mr Dwumfour said, “we are informed that subsequently, the attention of Peter Mac Manu, a former national chairman of the NPP, who chaired the regional vetting committee, was drawn to the incident and he sent Ghc1500 to be given to David to cater for his hospital bills. That fatherly gesture, although he was not connected to the incident, is very much appreciated.”

He said initial investigations by the GJA confirmed the incident, adding that, “This is the height of impunity and we can no longer tolerate same.”

The GJA President, therefore, demanded that the NPP, at the regional and national levels, investigate the matter immediately and identify the culprits.

He also demanded that the NPP, at the regional and national levels, must sanction the perpetrators.

Mr Dwumfour also called on the Ghana Police Service to investigate the incident immediately and speedily in order to prosecute the culprits.

“The Ghana Police Service must investigate and identify the purported police officer who invited David before he was assaulted and bring him to face sanctions for unprofessional conduct, ” he insisted.

Meanwhile, the GJA President stated that if by close of Friday, January 12, 2024, these demands are not met, the Association shall advise itself accordingly.

“It is unfortunate that we have begun the year on this barbaric note. But as we have already served notice, we shall fight back with every weapon we can marshal in our industry to repel the attacks on journalists as we go into Election 2024. And we can assure the evil plotters and doers that they cannot fight the media and win,” he said.

He assured the media fraternity that the GJA shall continue to defend their interests at all costs.

“This year, we shall continue our campaign against the obnoxious law used for criminal prosecution of free speech. We know they would be used as part of the strategy to silence the media but we shall resist them with all force,” he said.

Mr Dwumfour again advised journalists and media practitioners to be extremely vigilant whilst discharging their duties and report any iota of threat to their person to the police for the necessary action to be taken.

Ghana| Atinkaonline.com| Porcia Oforiwaa Ofori