Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Disparaging comments on President Mills... TEACHER FACES CHARGE OF OFFENSIVE CONDUCT (PAGE 3, MAY 25, 2010)

A Kumasi-based teacher, Emmanuel Adu-Gyamfi, will appear in court tomorrow for allegedly making a disparaging comment on the person of the President, Prof John Evans Atta Mills, on a radio station in Kumasi yesterday.
The police placed him in custody after initial investigations and he will be charged for offensive conduct before a court for allegedly equating the President to a chimpanzee.
Adu-Gyamfi, 35, popularly known in radio circles as ‘The High Priest’, was said to have made the comment during a discussion on Fox FM in Kumasi yesterday morning.
Panellists on the programme were discussing recent comments made by Mr Kwame Pianim on the flag bearer aspirants of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
His comment drew a large crowd of NDC supporters to the premises of the radio station and but for the timely arrival of the police, something nasty would have happened.
Earlier rumours that the host of the programme, known as Captain Smart, had also been picked up by the police turned out to be false.
According to the police, they had only invited Captain Smart and the other people to ascertain the facts of the matter.
The Ashanti Regional Police Public Affairs Officer, Chief Inspector Yusif Mohammed Tanko, told the Daily Graphic that the police had information in the morning that a large number of people had massed up on the premises of Fox FM, ready to attack a panellist for his disparaging comments against the President.
A number of policemen were dispatched to the scene and they managed to rescue Adu-Gyamfi, who was then holed up in the studios of the station.
Chief Inspector Tanko said the suspect was first taken to the nearby Zongo Police Station, and as the crowd followed up to the station, the police whisked him to the Ashanti Regional Police Headquarters for safety.
He stated that the Regional Police Commander, DCOP Patrick Timbillah, convened a meeting, which was attended by representatives of the radio station, including the host, the National Media Commission, the Ghana Journalists Association, the NPP and the NDC, to go into the authenticity of the allegation against the suspect.
At the meeting, the host of the morning show admitted that Adu-Gyamfi had made the statement and that he (the host) had even asked Adu-Gyamfi to retract it but he refused.
The PRO said when the suspect was asked to explain his action, he denied ever making the statement and so the police called for the recorded tape of the programme for verification.
He indicated that the tape confirmed that Adu-Gyamfi had made the comment and based on that the police arrested him and placed him in custody for further investigations.
He said DCOP Timbillah took a serious view of the way personal attacks were being made on radio in recent times and called for a stop to the practice.
Chief Inspector Tanko said the regional police chief was also not happy about the way the mob tried to visit their anger on the suspect and said in matters of that nature the law should be allowed to take its course.

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