Efia Odo fumes as she hails Naa Ashorkor, Berla Mundi for speaking truth to power

Ghanaian actress and socialite, Efia Odo has extolled two female presenters of TV3, Naa Ashorkor Mensah-Doku and Berla Mundi, over their interview with National Organizer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Salam Mustapha, in relation matters concerning the #OccupyJulorbiHouse protest.

She praised the courage of the two journalists for speaking truth to power and not allowing government officials to spew lies with respect to the turbulent nature of the Ghanaian economy.

The controversial Ghanaian actress, who was part and parcel of the host of #OccupyJulorbiHouse protesters to voice their grievances to the government, hailed Naa Ashorkor and Berla Mundi for their blunt interviewing prowess.

The #OccupyJulorbiHouse protest, spanning three days, concluded with celebrities playing a significant role in its vigor and effectiveness in conveying their concerns to the government.

In a Twitter post shared on September 25, 2023, Efia Odo wrote “Everyone is fed up! You can see in our eyes and hear it in our voices. God bless Naa Ashorkor and Berla Mundi, women who SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER. #OccupyJulorbiHouse.”

Efia Odo's reaction comes after Salam Mustapha, the National Youth Organiser of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), defended his earlier comments on the historic three-day street protest called #OccupyJulorBiHouse.

When he joined the Monday, September 25, 2023, edition of TV3 NewDay and was asked questions by hosts, Berla Mundi and Naa Ashorkor Mensah-Doku, he made claims that shot the emotional tolerances of particularly the latter presenter, out of the wheel.

In short video clips from the program that was shared on X, Berla Mundi began the questions by asking the NPP youth organizer if, in hindsight, he didn’t think that what he said that all that was happening was not concrete, but only rhetoric, was disrespectful.

“Berla, I don’t know where you’re coming from with the word ‘disrespect’ because there’s no disrespect as far as opinions are concerned. If we express our opinions, you can’t call that disrespect,” he answered, just as the co-host, Naa Ashorkor butted in.

Unsatisfied with the response of the NPP national executive, Naa Ashorkor, listing out the things Salam described as rhetoric: the Motorway, fixing the road, cost of living, and other tangential, asked him if he uses the Accra-Tema Motorway.

“Of course, I do,” he responded, quickly followed by the question, “What is the state of the Motorway in your opinion?”

“If you use the Motorway today, you’ll see that work is ongoing, especially from the interchange being done from the Spintex to East Legon, to the Motorway. So, if you see what we did in 2019 when the second stage was commissioned, we said we’re starting the third phase, which includes the interchange…” he argued.

But Naa Ashorkor seemed to have had enough, and with her body language indicated this (as she rolls up her sleeves and readies to reply to him), she butted in again:

“OK, let me tell you. I was on the Motorway yesterday and I noticed there is work around the Accra Mall end of the Motorway - before the toll booth. The actual Motorway, which has been the cause of countless accidents over the years, I don’t know how many years, I was afraid for my life while I drove on the Motorway yesterday. The potholes are endless. There’s been a constant call by young people, in fact, all Ghanaians, asking for the Motorway to be fixed.

“I do not think that if people are out on the streets, calling for these things to be fixed, that it is okay for you to write a very long letter, calling these things rhetorics bordered on political lines. I do not think that just as you have agreed that the Motorway is bad, you should throw it off as a rhetoric. I also do not think that the many things that who feels it knows it, perhaps because of your position, or because of the experiences you have in your little world, you probably do not experience the things that people out on the streets experience. And because it is their fundamental human right – the freedom of expression, that means that they can say what they feel, in a peaceful protest, I do not think that it is alright for you, for the lack of the same challenges that they’re experiencing, that you don’t experience, I don’t think it’s ok for you to come out to call them rhetoric bordered on political lines,” she stated.

View the tweet below

Everyone is Fed up! You can see it in our eyes and hear it in our voices. God bless Naa Ashorkor and Berla Mundi, women who SPEAK TRUTH to POWER. #OccupyJurlobiHouse

— EFIAODO (@Efiaodo1) September 25, 2023