Maurice Ampaw is a private legal practitioner
• Shatta Wale feigns gun attack
• Police commences investigations into Shatta Wale’s alleged attack
• Prophet arrested for prophesying Shatta Wale’s death
Following the prank pulled by Dancehall artiste, Shatta Wale, falsely spreading news that he had been shot, a private legal practitioner, Maurice Ampaw, has asked that this incident be used as a test case for the security of this country.
According to him, much as the actions of the artiste amount to charges of fake news, which is contrary to the Electronic Publication Act, and which prohibits the spreading of false news, there should be a consideration of the intent behind this move.
Late Monday, October 18, 2021, news went rife that the musician had been shot by some unknown gunmen at East Legon, Accra.
According to the report which was said to have been confirmed by Shatta Wale’s personal assistant, Nana Dhope, the musician was sent to an unidentified medical facility for emergency treatment.
However, it turned out that the news was false and that the artiste had only misled the public following an earlier prophecy that he would be shot and killed on that same day.
But, speaking in a telephone interview with GhanaWeb, Maurice Ampaw said that there is a need for a critical look at the issues especially from the angle of Shatta Wale.
“I have also heard Shatta’s side of the issue, stressing that the police and the public were quiet when he was threatened by a prophet whose prophecy said that on the 18th of October, he will be shot. Therefore, everybody sat down when he was going through the trauma and the emotional stress,” he said.
Maurice Ampaw, therefore, urged that this be used as a test case to analyze the prophecies that people make that form a threat on people’s lives.
“We should use this Shatta Wale issues as a test case as to whether you make prophecies that people understand or not, you express your religious beliefs and practices that is your right, with don’t have a problem, but the right of every Ghanaian is subjected to the right of others, per our constitution. So, if out of your prophecy, somebody feels threatened, which is a reasonable threat to him, that you’ve given a specific date that he will be shot. This is a serious threat to the person.
“Therefore, we should start interrogating people committing crime in the name of prophecy, in the name of God, in the name of spirituality. And if we don’t, people will commit crime in the name of prophecy,” he urged.
Maurice Ampaw also called for the prophet in the case to be arrested for threatening the life of the artiste.
“Therefore, I’m also suggesting that the prophet who made that prophecy that caused fear and panic and that threatened Shatta Wale’s life, affected his life, be arrested,” he said.
Here is the full interview: