• Castle ‘Boys’ & Govt. Comm. Team Fingered

From the Political Desk

When one gauge the political temperature since President John Evans Atta Mills assumed control of the administration of this country, one thing that is protruding is that, the kitchen is too hot for some of his appointees and Ministers because of the unpardonable blunders that they have committed and still committing.

But because of the mouthwatering purse, privilege and the trappings of naked power, they are sweating profusely and in some instances are being burnt by criticism coming from some media organizations including some independent minded officials of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) who are dissatisfied with the leadership style of the sitting President and exposing the misdeeds being committed by some of them but instead of them getting out to breath fresh air, they are using crude, subterfuge and covert method to intimidate and gag some of these media organizations and individuals into submission.
The modus operandi is simple; they influenced and compromised some producers and Morning Show Hosts of some Radio and Television stations in the country to sideline The Citizen by not reviewing it on their Newspaper Review and Analysis platforms.
Another scheme that has been put in motion because of The Citizen’s close association with FONKAR is the activation of the BNI and the National Security operatives to threaten, question and hound persons this Ministers and appointees perceived to have ties with the paper, not forgetting refusal of state institutions to give advert to this paper as a result of orders from above.
This media repression tactics this paper has established is being engineered and masterminded by powerful power brokers at the Castle, a Deputy Minister for Information as well as some members of the Government Communication team with tacit support of a ‘Kokomlemle’ based publisher and Managing Editor of a tri-weekly Newspaper.
The Citizen has also established that this Managing Editor has consistently been bad mouthing management and staff of this paper because of this paper’s exposé of a grand scheme to push the CPP agenda and relegate the philosophy and ideology of the NDC, championed by the Founder of the NDC and former President of Ghana, Mr. Jerry John Rawlings to the background, the criticism of the Mills administration and the exposé of the crude method his protégé who is a Deputy Minister is using to win parliamentary seat in the Volta region.
This paper has also learnt that this Managing Editor and his collaborators in Government are uncomfortable with this paper’s position on the sitting President’s second term bid, owing to the mouthwatering benefits and privilege that they are currently receiving from this Government.
The Citizen is of a firm conviction that the result of these nefarious and reprehensive activities of these State institutions and officials including their “attack dog” collaborators will not fly and will soon explode in their face. These State institutions including President Mills appointees should rather use their efforts and energy to promote the security and interest of the citizenry rather than using their limited resources and time to persecute individuals and organizations who have decided to exercise their fundamental human right which is one of the cardinal principles enshrined in the 1992 constitution (freedom of association and freedom of expression).
Currently, this Paper’s internet facilities has been shut down for months, its office facilities tampered with, fax machine and telephone lines disconnected at the behest of State institutions and President Mills’ appointees who carry themselves in public as apostles of freedom of speech and democracy.
This act of repression and intimidation that has been set in motion, which is gasping for breath to survive and succeed in a bid to collapse this paper is a clear manifestation that the root and tenet of good governance and free speech is seriously under threat and is yet to take firm root in Ghana’s political dispensation.
These State institutions and functionaries of the NDC Government are certainly swimming in shark infested waters because the repercussion of this scheme will be dangerous, counterproductive and costly because the trapping of political power is slippery and transient.