GJA, others blacklist Yendi MP Farouk Mahama for assaulting Citi News reporter; calls on Ghana Police to speed up investigations

The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has directed media organizations in the country to blacklist the Member of Parliament for Yendi, Umar Farouk Aliu Mahama for assaulting Citi News’ Northern Regional Reporter, Mohammed Aminu M. Alabira.

Farouk Mahama and his team are reported to have physically assaulted Mohammed Alabira while he was covering the chaos that disrupted the New Patriotic Party’s parliamentary primary in the Yendi constituency on January 27, 2024.

At a news conference in Accra on Tuesday, addressed by the GJA President Albert Dwumfour, the GJA, Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA), Private Newspaper Publishers Association of Ghana (PRINPAG), and the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) entreated journalists to adhere to the directive.

“All media houses must blacklist and offer Farouk Aliu Mahama no media coverage, interview among others as the MP for Yendi and any other state position he holds until further notice. We want you to know that apart from him being insensitive to the work of journalists (as demonstrated during the Parliamentary Primaries), there are vigilantes around him who may harm you. So, just steer clear of him and his thugs”, he said.

The GJA called on the Ghana Police Service to speed up investigations into the case and arraign the perpetrators before the court to face the full rigours of the law.

GJA also has given the New Patriotic Party (NPP) a ten-day ultimatum to respond to these concerns, threatening to advise themselves if they fail.

“We are giving the NPP, Regional and National, and the Ghana Police Service a ten-day ultimatum each to hear from them. They should arrest the perpetrators. If they fail, we shall advise ourselves.”