Hawa Koomson Threatens Legal Action Against GJA President

The Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development and Member of Parliament for Awutu Senya East, Hawa Koomson, is considering legal action against the President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Albert Kwabena Dwumfour for allegedly implicating her in a supposed attack on a journalist in the Central Region.

According to the MP, the call by the GJA President for the media to blacklist her over the incident is unfair because the GJA has not properly investigated the alleged assault on a Cape FM journalist.

She said she did not take the matter seriously initially because she was focused on her parliamentary primaries.

She is thus demanding a retraction of the media blackout statement or the presentation of evidence supporting the assault allegation.

“I had planned to respond to the GJA declaration, but my election activities didn’t allow me. Now that I am done with the election, I can respond. I was in Cape Coast for vetting, and I even spoke to the media after my vetting, but no one approached me about the issue. I was quite surprised when I heard about the assault in the media space.”

“I don’t think the GJA has conducted a thorough investigation into the matter before issuing the blacklist against me. The GJA President promised to send me the footage of the incident, but until now, I have not heard from him. I am challenging him to provide evidence of the assault proving that I was behind it or to apologize to me. If not, we will meet in court,” Mavis Hawa Koomson told the media after emerging victorious in the parliamentary primary.

On January 25, the GJA directed journalists to avoid covering any activities involving the Awutu Senya East MP following an alleged attack on a journalist allegedly by the MP’s thugs during the NPP’s parliamentary aspirants’ vetting in Cape Coast.

According to the GJA president, while there is nothing against the MP so far, there are concerns about the individuals surrounding her.

“We believe there are thugs, unreasonable and evil-minded people around the MP who pose serious threat to the life of journalists and other media practitioners. We have nothing against the MP but we are scared of the people around her. All media practitioners should stay away from Mavis Hawa Koomson,” he said.

Mr. Dwumfour said the NPP leadership at both the national and regional levels should make efforts to identify and appropriately sanction the individuals responsible for assaulting David Kobina.

He also called on the Ghana Police Service to swiftly investigate and prosecute the perpetrators of the assault.

Additionally, he made calls for the identification and sanctioning of the police officer who invited the journalist and stood by while the morning show host was attacked.

“Our call for total media blackout on Honourable Mavis Hawa Koomson is with immediate effect, and until further notice.

“We may reconsider it when we see evidence of action by the NPP and the Ghana Police Service to identify, arrest and prosecute the thugs, we are following this case with keen interest and we shall periodically review it and update the general public.”

He urged all media houses to join in the call and ensure that the decision yields a strong impact.

“Let’s bear in mind there are dangerous people around Mavis Hawa Koomson,” he added.

Mr Dwumfour urged NPP officials and supporters nationwide to ensure the safety of journalists covering the NPP parliamentary primaries on Saturday, January 27.

“It is our prayer that reporters will be allowed to do their work freely without intimidation or attacks. We won’t accept or tolerate any negativity,” the GJA president said.