A reporter with PAD Fm in Damongo has been assaulted in the line of duty in monitoring activities of the Electoral Commission in the registration for a new voter’s ID card towards the 2020 parliamentary and presidential elections.
According to Abraham Ananpansah , he received a hefty slap from the Damongo Constituency deputy Organiser, on Monday at about 1:15 pm after he had closed from school.
Abraham said the deputy organizer and his group numbering 8 chased him to an an area called 7,7 junction and without any word of provocation, the deputy organizer pounced on him compelling the other members to join in beating him.
“When they got to me the deputy organizer only asked me about three times are you the one who has been writing, which I never uttered a word”, he told Yagbon News.
When asked what might have caused the brawl he said he suspects a report he made when some people were bused to a registration centre by the deputy organizer and were challenged by the opposition NDC party.
“Apparently, I was beaten without any reason and my tablet screen got smashed in the entangled”, he narrated.
Abraham said he was earlier on threatened by the NPP deputy organizer on Thursday before the assault came up on Monday.
Abraham who has since reported the case to the Damongo Police and received some treatment from the West Gonja Hospital at a cost 500 Ghana cedis is yet to recover from the assault.
He said the police are investigating the case.
Yagbon News spoke to the Manager of PAD FM, Mr. Matthew Zaabella and he confirmed the assault of his worker by the NPP deputy organizer and his group.
“I am currently at the police station and the NPP deputy organizer of the Damongo constituency and his group have been invited by the police to probe into the matter”, Mr. Matthew told Yagbon News on Tuesday morning.
The NPP deputy organizer of the Damongo constituency, Atabeah A. Raheem when also contacted on the matter denied assaulting the reporter.
According to him the reporter made an inaccurate report over a misunderstanding that occurred at the Kurabaso polling station between the NPP and the NDC.
Atabeah said, “I told him to go back on air and retract the statement he made against me that I fired gun shots at the polling station which he has blatantly refused to do”.
So yesterday we were on our normal routine movement and when he saw us he started running and fell in the gutter, nobody touched, Atabeah emphasized.
Source: yagbonradioonline
