New Patriotic Party (NPP) sympathiser, Hajia Fati, has apologized for assaulting an Adom FM reporter at the NPP headquarters in Accra last Friday.
Hajia Fati confessed to the act and said her actions were a mistake as she expressed her regret to the media. Her apology comes a day after the NPP condemned the act and distanced itself from same.
In a statement copied to citinewsroom.com on Tuesday, the NPP said it was conducting its own investigation into the matter.
“I am here today to appeal to all pressmen. I’m on my knees begging you people. I don’t have any grudge with any pressman. What [happened] was a mistake so please, you people should forgive me. I am on my knees. Please forgive me.”
The reported assault occurred after Hajia Fati forcefully prevented Sammy Crabbe, a suspended official of the party, from picking up forms to contest for the NPP’s chairmanship position.
The reporter, Ohemaa Sakyiwaa of Adom FM said she had attempted taking a photo when she was slapped in the face.
Later in an interview, Hajia Fati explained that she thought the reporter was a Sammy Crabbe’s affiliate who had been sent to take pictures for ulterior motives.
Hajia Fati also notably said the reporter looked more like an “onion seller.”
“The woman standing there did not look like a reporter. I thought it was one of Sammy Crabbe’s women who wanted to take pictures of me. The lady did not look like a reporter. She resembled an onion seller. She did not look like a reporter at all,” she said.
Condemnation of assault
The Executive Director for Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Sulemana Braimah, has condemned the attack, describing it as an unfortunate incident.
He noted that the assault of the journalist indicates that the NPP’s headquarters was a danger zone for journalists as this incident is among many others recorded in recent times at the same location, which the party has remained silent.
‘Suit over the attack.’
The President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Affail Monney, has also condemned the attack, adding that the GJA was considering taking legal action against Hajia Fati.
The Multimedia Group, the parent company of Adom FM, has also filed a complaint at the Nima Police station and will go ahead with a civil suit against Hajia Fati over the attack.
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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citinewsroom.com/Ghana
