Media men used to publicise smear campaign condemn

A story is anonymously placed on air that a top presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party who impregnated a female student forced her to remove the pregnancy, in the course of which she lost her life. Her bereaved parents were about to go public with the scandal.

No details of the alleged victim or her family are attached to the rumour. A nameless corpse. But, it comes into the public domain all the same. Some panic; others rejoice. Once again, the chances of the biggest threat to the ambition of 16 others are under threat. The nasty text messages did not work. Surely, this must work!

The targeted politician is contacted. His public denial hits the headlines, first in far away London, even before the veracity or otherwise of the allegation is known. Bingo! It seems the schemers had achieved their aim. Eventually the story turns out to be wholly baseless. But, not before calls are anonymously put through to the media in Ghana to spread the news!

That, readers, is the current state of affairs of Ghana's politics, as 17 ambitious men battle it out for the flagbearership of the governing party. "We got the information that an NPP aspirant had impregnated a student of University of Ghana and that she died at Korle Bu about two weeks ago in an attempt to abort the baby. I told listeners of my station in London that I was investigating the story.

But when I followed the story, I realised that the story is baseless - it's useless. Nothing like that has happened.” The words of Alfred “Oxygen” Kwame Larbi, the Ghanaian-based correspondent for Kasapa FM, a popular pirate station of East London, UK.

Last Thursday, Oxygen had gone on air publicly in London and on the internet to say that he was investigating the alleged death of that nameless victim.

Ernest Owusu Bempah, the host of another radio station in London whose programme was first used to publicise the baseless but potentially damaging story has since warned journalists against being used as conduits for mudslinging: “I think we in the media have to be very, very alert.”

The day before Oxygen’s 'explosive’ story, on September 5, Kweku Baako had been called from Ghana for a live interview on Hot FM, London, on the Scancem bribery scandal when a UK-based serial caller, Kanawu, called into the programme to ‘advise’ the Editor-in-Chief of the Crusading Guide to investigate the alleged death of a student at Korle Bu from aborting the baby of an NPP aspirant.

Interestingly, the scheme was cunningly effected to coincide with Nana Akufo-Addo’s short trip to London last Thursday.

The Hot FM host, Ernest, told The Statesman yesterday that public reaction in the UK has been one of severe anger. "People are very angry for the fact that somebody out there is seeking to defame Nana Akufo-Addo."

Ernest said he had received about three anonymous calls from male and female voices from Ghana in the past two weeks, urging him, who lives in London, to investigate the alleged death in Korle Bu, Accra.

He was told by the anonymous callers, who reached him by his private number, that the NPP aspirant who allegedly impregnated the student and gave her money to abort the foetus was the leading contender, Nana Akufo-Addo.

The callers went as far as to say that the family of the alleged victim were preparing to go public. "They told me the girl was the 16-year-old daughter of a top NPP man."

Ernest, accompanied by the station owner, Van Dyke, PRO of NPP UK/Eire branch, Nana Gyebi, and branch treasurer Eric Agyemang were invited to Nana Akufo-Addo’s hotel suit at the Savoy, Central London, where the aspirant granted them an interview. He denied the story and restated his commitment to run a clean and issues-based campaign.

"My conclusion is that, our democratic dispensation looks like it is taking a new twist where dirty politics is becoming the order of the day," observes Ernest of Hot FM, a radio station very popular with Ghanaians in London.

He adds, "Looking at the NPP flagbearership race, it is getting worse and worse. People are taking advantage of that. That’s why we journalist have to take care."

Ernest said when he persistently got the anonymous calls and got wind of Nana Akufo-Addo’s visit to London, he did the professional thing by interviewing the aspirant who gave him the go ahead to play his denial on air. Right now we want whoever sent the anonymous call to come out."

Ernest, who claimed to have recorded one of the anonymous calls, advises the media "to take out the bad nuts and politicians should be very careful with whom they deal with."

Yesterday, the host of Accra’s Asempa Radio’s afternoon programme, Ken Addy made this remark after listening to the media men involved in the fabricated story: "Where the story emanated from, and those who put it out there have all come out to categorically rubbish the story."