It was a nasty scene at the studios of Boss FM in Kumasi last Wednesday evening when a National Democratic Congress (NDC) goon on a political show at the station turned the place into a boxing ring.
Ebenezer Opoku Alookee shocked radio listeners in Kumasi when he pounced on the New Patriotic Party (NPP) activist on the show, Ike Obodai, for expressing his opinion. Alookee, a muscular person, punched the tiny-looking NPP man to the extent that he started running helter-skelter for cover for about twenty minutes.
It took the timely intervention of Kwabena Prah Jnr, the programme host, and his producer, Sammy Kay, before Obodai could be saved. Obodai had described the Mills Better Ghana Agenda as Bitter Ghana Agenda to describe the hardships confronting Ghanaians lately.
Alookee jumped from his seat and started beating the NPP man on the political show dubbed ‘The Encounter’. The programme was interrupted for about twenty minutes before order was restored. Property of the radio station was damaged as a result of the melee. Apart from bleeding from the nose, Obodai, who looked weak, also suffered severe bodily wounds as a result of the fight.
Management of the station had to rush Obodai to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) where he was admitted for a day. When calm was finally restored, Prah Jnr. on behalf of management of the station, apologised to listeners. Minutes later, the NDC Ashanti Regional Secretary, Joseph Yammin, rushed into the studios and begged residents of Kumasi to ‘forgive and forget’ about the shameful incident.
According to him, what happened on the political talk show was very bad and ought to be condemned. Mr. Yammin, who commands enormous respect among the NDC faithful in the region, implored his party representatives on radio shows to be accommodative of other persons’ opinions.
“If it was coming from the NPP side, I would have condemned it, so if it is coming from my party I have to condemn it too for peace and unity to prevail among us.”
Despite their different political ideologies, Yammin observed, NDC and NPP are one people with a common destiny so they should not let party politics divide them.