When the Daily Guide Becomes a Public Mis-Guide

I got up this morning to have my joyful day ruined by a politically-motivated story by the Daily Guide titled “Lumba in Trouble? When will nation’s journalists come to understand that Walt Disney’s Wonderland has moved on from producing fairytales and is, currently, in the business of educating society on a system of politics that unites and not divide people? Can the Ghanaian journalists, for once, get rid of their fixation with childish adjectives and invest a little bit of their idling time in analytical journalism?

I hate to theorize on human misery. However, if one places this embroidered partisan story under any analytical microscope, what pops up are more questions than answers. Was Daddy Lumba staging his own raid to win the heart of a nation where public gullibility is exploited a means to achieve an end? Was the purported military operation, which I doubt it, even, happened, staged by certain mavericks, within the NPP camp, to give believability to the imaginary “hit-list?” Was the supposed raid the work of the nation’s armed robbers, or narco-mullahs, who want to discredit the new administration by creating an atmosphere of insecurity?

Let me also state, just for the sake of an argument that, no government into today’s democratic politics, will send “armed men in military uniforms” to look for a an entertainer who has no clout in shaping national policies, let alone the practical wherewithal to destabilize a government that was, recently, elected by the people and given the political capital to rule our dearest nation.

If it wasn’t for political mischief, which I think it was, why would a reputable media house refer to a “three-man” staged robbery as an armed squad, when, in fact, the term, “squad,” refers to a small military unit, usually made up of eight to fourteen Non-Commissioned Officers? Let me, also, ask, what “combat-ready men” would ask several questions if they were, indeed, ordered by the state to arrest Daddy Lumba; usually an operation that would required a thought-out strategy to cover the tracks of those involved? Even the mind of an eight-year, it makes little sense to travel from Accra to Kumasi to arrest the entertainer, when, in fact, the alleged operation could taken place in Accra where he, officially, resides.

It was absurd to read, from the Daily Guide report that, while Faustina Fosua, the junior sister of Daddy Lumba, had all the time, on earth, to enquire “from the men why they were looking for her elder brother,” the made-up Yaa Fosua Asantewaa, who, courageously, stood up against the armed men, as reported by the Daily Guide, failed to apply the same commonsense, and heroism, to take down the registration number of the KIA Sportage that was, allegedly, used in the false operation. Are we missing some here? Or am I delusional in asking these basic questions to fill in the missing links?

Our nation’s journalists, unlike some of their peers in certain African countries, have become marketers of public terrorism. In their trademark approach, which defies twenty-first century journalistic ethics, they would, rather, use heart-pounding catchphrases, such as “combatants,” “armed-to-the-teeth” “irritated,” “violently pushed,” and “insulting me with unprintable language, as a way to boost their declining earnings due to their inability to produce news that newsworthy. Sadly, but truly, this nonsense has, unfortunately, worked for some of the nation’s overrated journalists, many of whom mistake a gossip for a fact and would give credence to subjectivity over empiricism.

One of the brazen stupidities we see in our nation’s media, perhaps unknown to many, here, is how Ghanaian journalists can contradict themselves, easily, without even knowing. For example, if the said story was, really, true, as Daily Guide made it seem it was, why would the same media outlet state that “a certain woman who claimed to be a close associate of the dazzling musician however called to 'kill' the story because according to her, the soldiers were Daddy Lumba's body guards?” Since when did contemporary media principles become a casualty of a vindictive journalistic nonsense imposed on us an investigative journalism? Do our nation’s journalists really understand what investigative journalist is, let alone appreciate its utilitarian value in building a sustainable democracy?

I don’t think that, out president-elect, Professor Mills, dreams about Daddy Lumba, let alone direct a squad from the nation’s military to raid his house. Lumba, like any Ghanaian, has the right to join any political party he chooses and Professor Mills, fully, understands that. Charles Kwadwo Fosu is just an ordinary entertainer and not superstar in national politics. Let’s not build a tempest in a teacup. It is not in anyone’s best interest. A change has dawned on Nkrumah’s Ghana and it is, surely as bright as the eyes of God. Hope all is well. Good day and cheers.