Media men deserve to be beaten - A Plus

Controversial hiplife artiste cum politician, Kwame Asare Obeng also known as A plus says Ghanaian journalists deserve to be assaulted.

In what appears to be lack of respect for the rule of law, the staunch supporter of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) blames the media for the recent attacks on press men.

In a Facebook video, A plus described journalists as fools, saying they see themselves as untouchable “tin gods” who can have access to any place at any time.

He said, the Ghanaian media is too petty as they have the tendency of concentrating on minor issues such as a “slap” of a reporter, when there are critical national issues to be addressed.

A Plus' comments appear to be in defence of Hajia Fati, a loyalist of the NPP who came under a barrage of criticism after she assaulted a journalist with Multimedia’s Adom FM.

He captioned the video, “Hajia Fati hit one journalist and the stupid media in this country won't let us sleep. Occupy Ghana too say what? There are no streetlights on the motorway. You can't occupy the motorway and demand that lights are fixed there. Dada B people just sitting down and writhing long nonsense English. Not long ago oxygen was cut from a patient because he had no money to pay and left to die. How did that end?”

The reporter, Ohemaa Sekyiwaa on May 4, 2018, while covering events at the NPP headquarters was slapped when she attempted taking pictures of Hajia Fati.

When she was approached over the assault, the aggressive NPP member said nothing showed that the victim was a journalist as she looked like an onion seller,which justified her attack on the reporter.

Following several condemnations from professional bodies and the media fraternity, the NPP and Hajia Fati have apologised to the victim and to the entire media.

Hajia Fati told journalists at the party’s headquarters in Accra on Wednesday that, her actions were a mistake and should not have happened.

“I am here today to appeal to all pressmen I am on my knees begging you people. I don’t have any grudge against any press man but what happened was a mistake so please you people should forgive me,” she said.

But reacting to the issue, A Plus says if someone commits crime, the person should be arrested and prosecuted because no one is above the law.

He sees the “noise” about the issue as irrelevant.

“All these media people they’re useless people. You see them on air mentioning names and when they’re done they go for bribe. 99 per cent of them are not correct. If Ghana isn’t developing, the media is the problem. They’re untruthful,” he reiterated.