Junkies on our airwaves

Junkies on our airwaves by courtesy of Akosua of Daily Guide newspaper

Ever since the opening up of Ghana's media space especially the electronic media, we have had all manner of characters parading and working for the  mushrooming FM radio stations across the length and breadth of Ghana. I remember working with one such person at the radio station near the 'kowu kudi'. He was all over the place and doing all kinds of things to undermine all the well known voices who were then working at the station. We later discovered that he was in fact a homosexual and had used his influence peddling behaviour to sodomise a number of enthusiastic and ignorant young boys largely coming out from SHS as stringers with the promise of securing them permanent positions at the station. Those acts took place at his residence at Nkrumah Flats in Mamprobi where he was then based taking advantage of the obscurity of the dilapidated and neglected state building. What many people outside the electronic media may not know is that conditions of service for many of the radio stations are anything but abhorring. This was confirmed by a recent survey earlier in 2011 by the National Media Commission (NMC) which showed that over 80% of staff do not have contracts of employment and are paid less than GHC200.00 per month. Is it any wonder that we hear and read so man reports of extortion, blackmails and the usual 'soli' (solidarity money)involving pressmen? You need to appreciate the fact that aside of the initial enthusiasm by some of these young chaps to make names for themselves via radio, the basic needs of all workers; just conditions of service including remuneration cannot be taken for granted. If people considered more trustworthy by the members of the public than state institutions such as the police and fire service, are not given their rightful due, they will certain find their own ways to eke out a living to make ends meet. You and I can attest to this trend where and when in case of fire outbreak or crime, people call in to a radio station to report such incidents rather than the assigned toll-free numbers for the right agency. It is arguable though whether it is the personalities at post or the power and reach of these stations that have brought about this trend. What is important to note here is that many people in Ghana prefer to report such incidents to a radio station than call the state agency responsible for handling such issues. Any challenger?   

Ghanaians will be living a lie if they claim that they were oblivious of the junkies appearing on their airwaves. Many have poured scorn on especially presenters of specific programmes involving particular kind of music. I am not getting into spinning and name calling here not because I am afraid but professionally it is wrong to label whole genre of music as belonging to certain behaviour. Some people who create them and love them maybe associated with the ganga business but it is just some and not all of the people in the industry. In the year 2000, a radio station based in Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo region and owned by an ex-MP fired one of the DJs after confirming that he was a 'wee' (weeds) smoker. Again, I am not mentioning the name of this presenter for professional and legal reasons. Just a little clue for. He released a song associated with the name of a main character in a popular Mexican soap. The song compared the beauty of a girl to this mexican soap actress. Why dismiss a presenter for smoking wee? Well, for your information and education, smoking wee is not just illegal in Ghana but it also apparently affected his output. The management observed that anytime he was not scheduled to appear on a programme but had to be brought in as a last minute replacement, his performance was excellent. For his own log time, it was almost always a disaster. If you stand behind the transparent door to the studio, you could observe his hands trembling causing intermittent pause or breaks and sometimes saying some meaningless things on air. The management also discovered that anytime he left the air-conditioned studio, he always left foul wee smell which created problems like coughing and other respiratory problems from staff members who used the microphone after he left. What is not common is the police nabbing radio presenters for smoking wee and maybe use of other narcotics.

It is now a common public knowledge that some journalists working with some media houses have been busted for indulging in the use of narcotics. According to a statement released by the Nima Police and reports from court proceedings, leading sports presenter and a General Manager working with two FM Radio stations in Accra have appeared in court after they were busted for possessing and using narcotic drugs during a police operation in Accra on November 28, 2011. The two journalists are Patrick Osei Agyeman, also known as Countryman Songo, Host of Fire for Fire, a popular sports programme on Asempa Radio, and Bismark Brown aka BB of Happy FM and host of Morning Show on eTV. The two were arrested in the company of four others by the police patrol team. According to the a source close to the Nima Police Station, the patrol team while on their usual rounds spotted a group of young men making suspicious movement around the Ridge area in Accra.
Patrick Osei Agyemang aka Countryman Songo, the suspect, according to Bobie Ansah of Asempa FM, who rescued the suspect on air, claimed that he had only gone for a haircut at a time when the police swooped on the location at North Ridge, near the Alisa hotel.At the time that he was being held at the Nima Police Station after his arrest, a string of journalists, numbering about 30, made its way to the security joint. Some of the journalists were told to tarry for an hour so details of the arrest could be put out at a press conference but the string pulling which followed gagged the Nima Police from making good their promise of releasing the details, citing “order from above” to support their reneged position.Happy FM, an Accra-based radio station, broke the story first, according to Ghana Soccernet, an online sports media, stating that the man, very popular with taxi drivers for his 1pm daily sports programme, had been arrested.

Multimedia Broadcasting Corporation, operators of string of radio and TV stations like Joy FM, Adom FM, Hitz FM, Luv FM, Nhyira FM, Asempa FM and Multi TV are at the centre of another controversy again. One can recall the Afua Dzansi Asamoah-George Mfodwo kidnapping hoax, Stan Dogbe rape in Kumasi and Komla Dumo's extortion attempt at Areeba (now MTN). In all of these instances, the suspects never faced justice due to perceived underhand dealing from the company's owners. Paradoxically, Asempa FM, the radio station that had consistently peddled falsehood that the leading opposition leader in Ghana is a drug addict has its presenter in the dock for wee-smoking. Is it the case of the kettle calling the pot black? Information gathered so far shows that the kingpin of the station, a certain self-styled aid de camp Castle Communication Director was also sniffing and inhaling Abonsa Tarwaa but was given a tip-off via cell phone text message minutes before the police swoop.

The Police has remained tight-lipped on the matter which is not surprising considering the track record of the firm regarding criminal activities of its members of staff. 

We live to see how far the police will allow this case to travel. The question to ask the National Media Commission though is what are you going to do in view of the serious threats such characters pose to our young democracy? Remember the film by Jarreth Merz "An African Democracy" and cast your mind back to the role played by Radio Gold presenters with the urging of rogues like Rojo Mettle-Nunoo and Koku Anyidohu. Put that in context and see junkies churning out falsehood and imaging the future for Ghanaians. It is not too late to nab the problem in the bud before they sprout out and blossom to become acid-mouthed ministers of state.