My Nightmare - Mzbel Bares It All

The events of October 1, 2005 will forever remain etched on the mind of Mzbel, one of the country’s top female hiplife artistes.

“I cannot forget that night”, she told The Mirror with sadness in her eyes. “I almost died,” she said. “After the incident, I became sick. I was traumatized and had nightmares, “she continued.

Although she had had other performances, Mzbel says: “What happened that night still plays in my mind. Now when I am performing and the crowd gets excited, it scares me because I feel like they will come on stage to harass me but I try to psyche myself up and continue with the show.”

She said, “Following the incident which has become the talk of town, I feel bad but it is one of those occupational hazards. My friends and family have been very supportive.”

It will be recalled that in a musical show organized on the campus of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) a few weeks ago, some frenzied students of the university stripped Mzbel naked after her performance.

Narrating her ordeal, she said she had honoured an invitation to perform at a programme organized by KNUST students of the College of Arts as part of activities marking their Faculty Week celebration.

“After my first performance, the audience asked for another performance.” To this she complied. They then asked for another. Again, she obliged.

“They still wanted more, but I couldn’t go on again since there were other artistes waiting for their turn to perform,” she recalled.

She said the audience would not take no for an answer and kept asking for more. “Some of the organizers suggested an exit for me to leave but as I was trying to escape, the audience rushed on me.

In the ensuing melee, some started pulling my legs, while some went for my trousers and managed to pull it down and my pants as well,” she said.

She explained that at the exit which was like a big window, as her rescuers were pulling her upper part to free her from the grip of her attackers, they on their part were stripping her, with some attempting to insert their fingers into her private parts.

When events finally ended Mzbel came out with a cut on her face, pains in her ribs and scratches on her body.

Following media reports of the incident and public outcry, the university authorities have taken steps to ascertain the truth of what happened and bring the culprits to book.

The attack on Mzbel was condemned by a lot of groups including the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs and the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA) and Ghanaians of various persuasions.

However, there were others also who did not have sympathy for her, claiming “she deserved what came to her because of the indecent way she dresses.”

Mzbel says she is preparing to go to court because four faces have been identified in a video clip of that event “and that is the evidence we will use in court,” she hinted.

“I don’t know how the court process is going to affect me but I’ll go through it anyway,” she said.

According to Mzbel, formerly when she was invited for programmes she did not request for personal security but now she does.