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Tag: Kwabena Bobie Ansah

  • Freedom of speech flourished under Mahama – Bobie Ansah writes to BBC

    Kwabena Bobie Ansah, a journalist with Accra-based Accra FM, has written to the BBC over some claims by Elizabeth Akua Ohene, a former journalist and a Minister of State.

    According to him, the current President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, made some baseless allegations about the then President, John Dramani Mahama, and nothing happened to him.

    “John Dramani Mahama, the former president of the Republic of Ghana, was a president under whom freedom of speech flourished. People could say anything and not get punished. The current president himself falsely accused President Mahama of spending $10 million on diaries, among other unfortunate attacks. This lie – among others – was exposed, and nothing happened to Akufo-Addo.

    “Despite getting away with false accusations, today, journalists are picked up gestapo style, while radio stations have been shut down because they are affiliated with the opposition party. I myself was picked up illegally and unlawfully detained earlier this year, and I have my own story to tell.

    “The biggest irony in this whole enterprise is that Akufo-Addo has said repeatedly that he prefers reckless journalism to empty bootlicking,” parts of Bobie Ansah’s letter read.

    Elizabeth Ohene, who worked with the BBC for fourteen years, had questioned why the media house would measure Ghana’s press freedom state with activist Oliver Barker-Vormawor’s brushes with the law as the metric.

    In her letter, she wrote that the BBC did a shoddy job by not probing the various aspects of the story and just relying on the fact that he was arrested for his activism.

    “We do not expect that the BBC would only defend journalists and programmes from other jurisdictions that meet its own standards.

    Bobie Ansah Open Letter to the BBC by The Independent Ghana on Scribd

    “But when the BBC starts a programme that purports to be about Ghana’s free speech being under attack, with a man whose claim to fame seems to be how scurrilous he can be about his opponents, who makes no attempt to be factual and who uses the most obscene language to describe Ghana’s First Lady at every opportunity, I have to wonder about the BBC.

    “Have the editors of the programme determined that this is a journalist, doing a professional job who is being muzzled and attacked?” she questioned.

    Kwabena Bobie Ansah was arrested on February 10, at 10 pm, right after his political talk show ended by persons purported to be National Security operatives.

    He was also accused of publishing false news on January 1, this year, accusing the presidential spouses of granting themselves “state lands at AU Village, around the Kotoka International Airport for the construction of Rebecca Foundation”.

    According to the police, the said presenter further called the First Lady, Rebecca Akufo-Addo, “a thief and that she has stolen state land around the Kotoka International Airport,” a statement he knew was “likely to occasion the breach of the peace”.

    However, he was granted a GH¢50,000 bail with two sureties on February 11.

    Source: www.ghanaweb.com

  • Cases against Sosu, Funny Face, Mensah Thompson, Bobie Ansah, others adjourned to April 25

    A number of trial cases currently before the Kaneshie Magistrate Court have been adjourned to Friday, April 25, 2022.

    The adjourned cases include the trials of Member of Parliament for Madina, Francis-Xavier Sosu; Executive Director of Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA), Mensah Thompson; actor and comedian, Benson Nana Yaw Oduro Boateng, aka Funny Face; as well as broadcast journalist, Bobie Ansah.

    According to a Daily Guide report sighted by GhanaWeb, the adjournment of the four cases which are at various stages of trial is due to the absence of the presiding judge, Isaac Oheneba-Kuffour.

    According to the report, the judge who is currently attending a professional course was unavailable for sitting when the cases were called on Monday, March 14, 2022.

    Francis-Xavier Sosu is standing trial at the court on charges of obstruction of public way, causing damage to other road users and unlawful damage.

    The Madina MP who has pleaded not guilty to all the charges is alleged to have led his constituents to conduct a violent demonstration of poor condition state of roads.

    The MP has been on self-recognizance bail following his arraignment.

    Funny Face has been charged for threatening the life of the mother of his twin daughters and also threatening to commit suicide.

    The Kaneshie Magistrate court had earlier committed him to a medical facility to undergo mental treatment but he was later granted a bail in the sum of GH¢20,000 by the court.

    A journalist with Accra FM, Bobie Ansah, is also facing two counts of publication of false news and offensive conduct at the magistrate court.

    His arrest and arraignment follows comments by the broadcaster to the effect that the First and Second Ladies had granted themselves state lands at AU Village, around the Kotoka International Airport for the construction of a Rebecca Foundation.

    Bobie Ansah has been placed on a GH¢50,000 bail by the court.

    Mensah Thompson, who is the Executive Director of the Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability, is also facing charges of two counts of publication of false news and offensive conduct conducive to the breach of peace, to which he pleaded not guilty.

    He was charged for alleging that some family members of the president used the presidential jet for shopping in the United Kingdom in December last year.

    Mensah Thompson made the claims on his Facebook page in January, which drew a lot of public outcry. He later retracted the allegation and apologised for it after he was not able to prove his statements.

    Source: www.ghanaweb.com

  • Dampare being used to execute ‘senseless arrest of journalists’ – Bobie’s lawyer



    Edudzi Kudzo Tamekloe, lawyer for Accra FM journalist, Kwabena Bobie Ansah, has expressed vindication in his call for people to moderate their praise for Inspector-General of Police, George Akuffo-Dampare.

    According to him, the recent arrests of which he considered ‘senseless,’ was a sign that the IGP was now receiving ‘direct calls from above,’ insinuating that he is being influenced by political players.

    Edudzi was commenting on the arrest specifically of his client in a Facebook post dated February 11, 2022.

    The post read as follows: “I told people from the beginning to be moderate in the praise of IGP, Dr Dampare. 

    “Well, the senseless arrests of journalists are happening under his command with direct calls from above. Look at the complainants. Big men,” he stated.

    In another post, he called on the First Lady to sue for defamation if she is so minded and to ask the Police to quit the criminal processes if she is not responsible for the complaint that led to the arrest.

    His post read: I am so disappointed that our First Lady, Mrs Rebecca Akufo Addo would want to use the police for this purpose. “If Mrs Rebecca Akufo Addo believes that she has not fraudulently acquire any land in Cantonments, as a private citizen, she can sue for defamation. 

    This is the lowest in the desperate attempt to suppress the media. So now any alleged false publication is criminal?

    “If Mrs Rebecca Akufo Addo is not responsible for the arrest and detention of Bobie Ansah, she must call the regime IGP, Dr Dampare to release him forthwith,” he added

    Brief about the Bobie vs. State case: 

    Kwabena Bobie Ansah was arrested on Thursday, February 10 for making unsubstantiated allegations against the First Lady, Mrs. Rebecca Akufo-Addo, and wife of the Vice President, Samira Bawumia. 

    The journalist accused the duo of “fraudulently granting themselves state lands at AU Village, around the Kotoka International Airport for the construction of [the] Rebecca Foundation, a non-governmental project”.

    The broadcaster, per the police charge sheet made the allegations on January 1, 2022. However, investigations into the matter revealed that it was false.

    He has been charged with the publication of false news and offensive conduct following which a Kaneshie District Court granted him a GH¢50,000 bail with two sureties.

    Source: www.ghanaweb.com

  • Bobie Ansah to be put before court Police


    The Ghana Police Service says it will be putting Kwabena Bobie Ansah before a court today, Friday, February 11, 2022.

    The Accra FM late-night political talk show host was arrested on Thursday and passed the night at the Nima Police Station in Accra.

    In a statement signed by the Head of Public Affairs Unit of the Accra Police Command, DSP Juliana Obeng, the police said the arrest of the journalist was in connection with his failure to “honour police invitations following a case of publication of false news reported against him.”

    The police noted that the suspect “on January 11, 2022, while hosting the Citizen Show on Accra FM, together with three others, allegedly made several statements against some individuals.” 

    According to the police, while its investigations into the said allegations made by Bobie Ansah and his guests established same to be false, several attempts to get the journalist and his guests to honour an invitation to assist in investigations failed, hence his arrest.

    “The suspect will be put before court today. Meanwhile, efforts are being made to arrest the other suspects,” the police added.

    Meanwhile, a video of the January 11, 2022 show hosted by Bobie Ansah as sighted by GhanaWeb indicates the said allegations by the journalist and his guests were made against the first lady of the Republic, Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo.

    Bobie Ansah, during the show, accused the first lady of appropriating state lands to herself for the use of her private foundation.

    “Do you know that Rebecca Akufo-Addo and Samira have appropriated for themselves the aviation lands?” he questioned in a short video of the programme obtained by GhanaWeb.

    “As I speak to you today, there are Chinese nationals working on the aviation lands that were acquired by Kwame Nkrumah for the state for the expansion of the aviation sector for its growth. Rebecca Akufo-Addo has had the guts to apportion the state land to herself and is putting up a project in the name of her foundation an NGO,” he added

    While raving about the allegations, Bobie Ansah, who is known to be an ardent critic of President Akufo-Addo, further accused the first lady of joining the president in what he described as thievery and corruption.

    “I used to think it was Akufo-Addo and his family members alone who were doing evil to the nation, but the woman has also joined. Per documents I have received… the bad and evil she wants to do to the nation.. the thing is Rebecca is a thief,” his rant was interrupted by one of the guests on the show who was prompting him to exercise restraint in his comment.

    While Bobie Ansah was being prompted by one of the guests, the remaining two of the three guests urged him on.

    The show then continued with the host showing a video of the supposed project site of the alleged Rebecca Foundation construction.

    Source: www.ghanaweb.com

  • Bobie Ansah refused to honour several invitations – Police clarifies after arrest


    The Ghana Police Service has clarified the circumstances under which a presenter with Accra-based Accra FM, Kwabena Bobbie Ansah, was arrested on Thursday, February 10, 2022. 

    According to a statement from the Police Service, the presenter was arrested in connection with an alleged case of publication of false news and offensive conduct. 

    The statement further said that the arrest only became necessary after the presenter refused to honour invitations from them. 

    “Mr Kwabena Bobie Ansah of Accra FM was arrested yesterday, February 10, 2022, by the Accra Regional Police Command in connection with an alleged case of publication of false news and offensive conduct.

    “His arrest became necessary after he turned down several invitations from the Police to him and others involved in the case to assist with investigations,” the statement said. 

    It further stated that a full statement on the case would be communicated in due course. 

    Earlier, GhanaWeb reported that Kwabena Bobie Ansah, host of ‘The Citizen Show’ on Accra FM, had reportedly been arrested by persons purported to be National Security operatives after his show on Thursday, February 10, 2022.

    According to Kwame Kwakye, the producer of the show, he cannot really tell what occasioned the incident that happened close to the station’s premises at around 10.00 pm.

    “We have no idea of where he has been sent to,” Kwame Kwakye said in a Facebook live stream after the incident.

    “As a journalist, he’s done with his job and on his way home to rest, but he has been picked up by some unknown officers. Kwabena Bobie Ansah has been arrested; his phone is off. Before we signed out of the show, his phone was on, but when he was arrested and was put in a vehicle, being taken to some unknown destination, his phone has been switched off. Where they are taking him, we don’t know, but we can say on authority that he has been arrested…,” Kwakye added.

    “We finished the show at 10.00 pm, and he [Bobie Ansah] stepped out, so I followed him to pick his car and hand it over to him in order for him to go home. Because when we close, he exercises around the junction before he goes home, but as of now, we don’t know where Bobie Ansah is.

    “…when I was approaching the junction with Bobie Ansah’s car and looking at the scene were the police and National Security [with] about four cars, where they arrested him, put him in their vehicle [sic] and drove off. If he was a criminal who had killed someone, would he be arrested this way? It is very sad!” he stressed.

    Odansini Odilia, another presenter of the station, described the incident as a ‘horror’ movie.

    “I call the whole scenario an ambush,” Odilia said.

    She explained she was on her way to the station to prepare for her show, which is after the Citizen show when she “saw one black car drive past. A second car, ash in colour, stopped by me and looked at me suspiciously. The last car is the one we met at the gate. That was when I asked passers-by why the cars were moving around in such fashion, only to find out that he [Kwabena Bobie Ansah] had been arrested.

    “It wasn’t the right procedure to arrest him. He was not rightfully arrested,” she added. “I didn’t see any policeman around; I didn’t see any police car around, so, if my colleague was arrested, he was arrested through one of the National Security whatever, whatever…”

    Although there has not been any official communication about his arrest, an Accra-based Citi FM reports that the presenter may have been picked up over a post he made on his Facebook timeline.

    In the said post, Ansah alleged, the “current judiciary is corrupt and made up of crooks and criminals led by a corrupt Chief Justice who’s struggling to purge himself of a $5 million thievery allegation.”

    Meanwhile, Joy News sources indicate that the journalist has been sent to the Nima Police Station after he was picked up from the premises of Accra FM.

    This brings to three the number of journalists arrested by security officials this year.

    Source: www.ghanaweb.com