Audio By Carbonatix
Choice FM, an Accra based private radio station, has been ordered not to broadcast a political current affairs programme it intends to start airing from this Saturday.
Promotional adverts for the programme, ‘Ghana Speaks’ has already started running on air when the station was yesterday warned that it would be broadcasting the program at the risk of the host losing his life and the station running into problems.
Choice Fm belongs to Fred Oware, who was recently sacked by government from his position as Chief Executive Officer of the Bui Hydro Energy Development Project.
The threatening order, which was first sent in the form of a telephone call and a sms text message from a telephone number 0244371682, was reinforced by three men who stormed the station yesterday and introduced themselves to the General Manager, Raymond Afaga-Chie, as National Security agents.
The agents, said they had ‘orders from above’ to order the station not to broadcast the program because the promotional advert was injurious to the government in power and the host, Martin Adjei-Mensah, is a know student leader of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Mr. Raymond Afaga-Chie in an interview with Daily Guide yesterday said the three intruders appeared mean and demanded to have a blue print of the programme’s contents and synopsis for the weeks to come.
“They were shouting on me to tell them the aim of the programme but I asked them to listen to the promo because it says it all and moreover we are a private station so I am not accountable to them in any way.
“I was surprised that they did not want to show their ID cards and when I insisted, one of them went back to the car only to come back and say they were from National security so I better cooperate with them in my own interest,” Mr. Afaga-Chie added.
The promo of the programme raises questions on whether or not the new government had lived up to expectation in the last six months or it had been given more than it can handle.
The threatening sms which was sent to Martin Adjei-Mensah’s phone read: “How can you, a onetime serving President of TESCON NPP wing host a programme; it is because you want to be biased. You useless bastard. Start it and you will see if you want to see something. BIG FOOL. We would finish you.”
Though Adjei-Mensah admitted he was a former President of the students’ wing of the NPP at the University of Ghana Legon, he said the programme would be an objective one and would follow the ethics of broadcasting.
Choice FM says it would go ahead to air the programme this Saturday at 7pm and the issue had been reported to the Police for investigations.
Source: Daily Guide
DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
Tags:
DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
Latest Stories
-
Imprisonment should be rehabilitative, not punitive – Ghana Prisons boss at UNGA
9 minutes -
Ga Adangbe traditional priests petition Mahama over McDan aviation licence revocation
20 minutes -
Anti-LGBTQ Bill: NDC’s arrogance is worrying – Hassan Tampuli
31 minutes -
Let’s give OSP time to mature, not to scrap it – Hassan Tampuli
35 minutes -
Nigeria convicts 386 Islamist militants in mass trials
40 minutes -
Djibouti president wins election with 97.8% of vote, state media says
44 minutes -
We don’t have mandate to deduct tax from rent allowance of security services personnel – Interior Ministry clarifies
59 minutes -
Ablakwa receives Presidential Special Envoy on Reparations to advance global agenda
1 hour -
Christina Koch becomes first woman to travel around the moon on Artemis II
1 hour -
Epstein survivors’ calls to meet King Charles and Queen harder to ignore as US visit approaches
2 hours -
UN Secretary-General names Ghana’s Anita Kiki Gbeho as South Sudan envoy
2 hours -
Mali withdraws recognition of Sahrawi Republic, backs Morocco’s autonomy plan
2 hours -
Gov’t distributes over 8,500 laptops to One Million Coders project
2 hours -
Julius Debrah, ‘man to beat’ as NDC’s James Agbey dismisses Musah Dankwah’s polls
2 hours -
GPRTU in Savannah Region to protest alleged eviction in Damongo
2 hours