(MFWA/IFEX) – On 25 July 2006, Dickson Gblogbor, a reporter of the Accra based independent bi-weekly newspaper “The Enquirer”, was allegedly assaulted by a personal assistant of Nana Ohene Ntow, the general secretary of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), at the party’s headquarters. The personal assistant is also alleged to have squeezed Gblogbor’s genitals. […]
(MFWA/IFEX) – On 25 July 2006, Dickson Gblogbor, a reporter of the Accra based independent bi-weekly newspaper “The Enquirer”, was allegedly assaulted by a personal assistant of Nana Ohene Ntow, the general secretary of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), at the party’s headquarters.
The personal assistant is also alleged to have squeezed Gblogbor’s genitals.
Gblogbor told MFWA that when he went to the party headquarters to crosscheck certain information, Ohene Ntow ordered his personal assistant to conduct a search on him, to determine if he was carrying a hidden tape recorder. Gblogbor said that Ohene Ntow told him that he could not trust “The Enquirer” because the newspaper had a history of carrying out secret recordings.
According to the reporter, following a request from the general secretary, he surrendered his recorder and personal cellular phone.
“He asked one of his men to search me and in the search process my male organs were squeezed several times,” said Gblogbor.
“I then began sweating profusely and people in the office, about eight in number, including four young ladies, burst into laughter”.
Ohene Ntow has denied the allegations. He told JOY FM, an Accra-based independent radio station, that he authorized his personal assistant to conduct a search but denied that the search procedure had violated the human rights of the reporter.
The journalist intends to make a formal complaint to the regulatory body, the National Media Commission (NMC).
Meanwhile, the NMC and the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) have both condemned the alleged harassment of Gblogbor.
