The Minister of Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah says the statement by the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA) responding to his statement on the attack on UTV contains some factual inaccuracies.
The GJA in a statement among others described the Minister’s statement as wobbly, adding that it differs strikingly from another letter issued by the Ministry in response to an attack on a radio presenter in the Northern Region.
“The Minister’s press statement is in sharp contrast to another one issued by the PR Unit of his Ministry on May 4, 2023, in respect of the attack on a radio presenter on Dagbon FM in Tamale by a communicator of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
“The Ministry’s May 2023 press statement was very direct: the Ministry described the attack as ASSAULT without any “allegedly” clothing; the Ministry condemned the act, specifically without giving it general direction; the Ministry called for “severe and speedy response from law enforcement agencies” to avoid future recurrence; the Minister had a telephone conversation with victim of assault, and the Minister “offered the support of the Ministry if he will require any.
“Between the two cases – Dagbon FM and UTV, the Minister of Information and/or the Ministry of Information has or have not been even-handed in addressing the critical issues at stake, and we find that very worrying,” the GJA said.
But commenting on the GJA’s letter in an interview with Peace FM monitored by Kasapafmonline.com said he has no problem with the description of his statement as wobbly, but he’s concerned about the factual inaccuracies.
“I have no problem when people talk about me in this manner, but what is important to me is what the GJA has put out as facts.
“In the statement the GJA said I described other past incidents as attack, but this recent one I did not. I have explained all the four statements we’ve released on such condemnable moves on the media. We don’t describe incidents, we speak about reports we receive. If we receive a report of an attack, we will state that the Ministry has received a report of an attack. If we receive a report of an assault, we will mention that in our statement, if we receive a report of an alleged unauthorized entry we will put that out.
“Secondly, I personally called the IGP, I called UTV management, you Kwami Sefa Kayi and hostess of the show Miss Gee. So, if the GJA statement says with other incidents, we called the victims and media houses, but we failed to call in this instance, it is factually inaccurate. I have no issues with the GJA, rather I think we must collaborate and resolve the issues before us.”
On Saturday, October 7, 2023, evening during the broadcast of United Showbiz, a gang purportedly made up of NPP members invaded the UTV studios and demanded the return of Kwame Asare Obeng, alias A Plus, the show’s regular analyst.
The group is claimed to have attacked some media firm employees before entering the studios because they were upset that A Plus destroyed a letter from the NPP leadership to the management of UTV requesting for a reform of United Showbiz.
Source: Kasapafmonline.com/102.5FM
