Don’t glorify violence against journalists – Ahmed Suale's family to media

The family of slain journalist with Anas Aremeyaw Anas’ Tiger Eye PI, Ahmed Suale has advised journalists and media houses to circumspect with matters of their late son.

In a statement the family also expressed disappointment with Ghana Police Service that till date “the Police have not made any progress on the matter.”

“At minimum, we expect the Police to look into the crime of aiding and abetting, and threats of harm where there is plentiful of evidence, all of which was reported to them on a couple of occasions by Ahmed Suale.

“We caution media houses and journalists to be circumspect when dealing with the gruesome murder of their colleague and should be wary not to glorify violence against journalists on their platforms,” spokesperson of the family, Ibrahim Kamilu Tahidu stated.

He continued: “They should also show sensitivity to the family who continues to be in pain in the face of the reticence of the State to give us justice and not allow Kennedy Agyapong to use their platforms to desecrate the memory of our beloved son, whose only crime was to work for the interest of Ghana.”

Read the full statement below:

16th August 2023

For Immediate Release

ALL MEDIA PLATFORMS

A STATEMENT BY THE FAMILY OF AHMED SUALE ON THE INTERVIEW OF KENNEDY AGYAPONG ON CITI T.V., T.V. 3, AND OTHER MEDIA STATIONS.

This is the umpteenth time, we, the family of Ahmed Suale, would have to respond to the tosh and flat-out lies of Kennedy Agyapong regarding the murder of our brother, Ahmed Suale.

There can be no escape route for Kennedy Agyapong, as nothing can be further from the truth, that, it was his extremely reckless and criminal conduct that led to the death of our brother.

It was reckless for him to have shown the photos of Ahmed on his Net 2 TV while revealing his residential location. And it was criminal for him to have rallied thugs to unleash violence on Ahmed for a ransom, he, Kennedy Agyapong was willing to pay.

But for Kennedy Agyapong's reckless and criminal conduct, nobody would have known the face of Ahmed, who was an undercover reporter of Tiger Eye working on BBC projects. Therefore, the post facto attempt to shift the blame on the professional conduct of Ahmed, cannot hold.

Over the period, Kennedy Agyapong has tried strenuously to change the effect of his call for retribution against Ahmed by saying his comments were location-bound, i.e., presence at Net 2 premises.

We quote his comments verbatim here to prove how deceitful Kennedy Agyapong is - "yes, that is him, Ahmed, he lives at Madina... wherever you see him beat him up.. I will pay for the cost". Clearly, Kennedy Agyapong was rallying support for the lynching of Ahmed without any restriction.

On the lie of he having paid Ahmed's fees, that is another barefaced lie which Kennedy Agyapong concocted after his reckless behaviour led to the death of Ahmed to soften the blow back effect of his conduct. He has never met Ahmed in his entire life as he himself admits.

Ahmed was solely taken care of by the family which was and has been capable of fending for family members. We find it bizarre that even after his gruesome murder, Kennedy Agyapong continues to desecrate his memory with lies and distortions.

We are gobsmacked, the journalists, (especially, Umar Sanda) allowed Kennedy Agyapong to get away with many lies which we have refuted in the past. More shockingly, Kennedy Agyapong stated that he has not regretted his actions, and this was also allowed to pass without a pushback from Umar Sanda.

Do the laws of Ghana permit lynching a person (even if a criminal) when he/she comes to your premises, assuming we admit his barefaced post facto distortion for a second?

It can never be justified, regardless of how hard he tries to rewind and reword his comments, therefore to allow his comments to pass, is a subtle endorsement of his reckless behaviour of advocating for the use of violence on not just Ahmed Suale, but other journalists like Manasseh Azure, Erastus Asare Donkor, and Anas Aremeyaw Anas, whom called for his hanging.

By his lack of remorse and the frantic defence of his conduct, the family is doubtful that Ahmed would ever get justice under a misfortune where Kennedy Agyapong becomes the president of Ghana.

We are also disappointed that, to date, the Police has not made any progress on the matter. At minimum, we expect the Police to look into the crime of aiding and abetting, and threats of harm where there is plentiful of evidence, all of which was reported to them on a couple of occasions by Ahmed Suale.

We caution media houses and journalists to be circumspect when dealing with the gruesome murder of their colleague and should be wary not to glorify violence against journalists on their platforms.

They should also show sensitivity to the family who continues to be in pain in the face of the reticence of the State to give us justice and not allow Kennedy Agyapong to use their platforms to desecrate the memory of our beloved son, whose only crime was to work for the interest of Ghana.

The family will not also hesitate to bring legal action against any media house that continues to entertain the lies of Kennedy Agyapong, should we find a recourse in law to do so.

SGD

IBRAHIM KAMILU TAHIDU

(For and on behalf of Divela Ahmed Husein Suale Family)

0266376342, 0244033286