Opinions of Friday, 21 May 2010

Columnist: The Informer

Kojo Oppong Nkrumah Leads NPP’s Propaganda Machine

Joy FM’s Kojo Oppong Nkrumah Leads NPP’s Propaganda Machine

In adherence to our avowed objective of exposing charlatans masquerading as professional journalists in this country, The Informer would from now on put its radar on some media crooks especially in the electronic media. One such person is Kojo Oppong Nkrumah of Joy FM, an unrepentant but furtive New Patriotic Party (NPP) sympathizer.

Ever since the administration of President John Evans Atta Mills took over the mantle of leadership on 7th January 2009, Mr. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has taken advantage of the relative credibility of his medium, Joy FM to engage in subtle but sustained negative propaganda against President Mills and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government.

The preponderance of this furtive anti-NDC and pro-NPP propaganda at times astounds those of us on The Informer, considering the fact that Joy FM has hitherto been seen by many as arguably one of the most credible electronic medium in the country. If for anything the station has been able to produce Komla Dumor, in our opinion, the nation’s most successful broadcaster now with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).
Umpteen examples can be cited on the anti-NDC behavior of Kojo Oppong Nkrumah and some of his cabal at Joy FM. Kojo Nkrumah was one of the loudest voices to push the agenda, on the now infamous NDC foot soldier agitations, and twist such concerns as embarrassment for the government. In the past weeks, not a single day will pass without him pushing this useless NPP agenda especially in the morning rush-hour when his medium commands larger listenership.
Kojo is adopting this strategy because he and his NPP paymasters know that politics is just a perception and if you continuously push a negative perception in the public domain, with time people begin to accept it and believe in it. The likes of Kojo Oppong must be exposed for all Ghanaians to know who they are so that they will stop this kind of mercenary broadcasting.
Again, in the early days of the Mills administration, when the NPP bequeathed battered economy to the infant NDC government, and President Mills inadvertently referred to it as ‘ecomini’, the same Kojo Oppong Nkrumah fuelled this so-called presidential gaffe till it gained currency with the general Ghanaian society. It is refreshing to note that the loud noise from Kojo Oppong and his NPP paymasters has abated because the economy is gradually coming back to good health.
Again, Mr. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, was one of the first journalists to have provided the platform to the now discredited pro-NPP UK-born John Hardy on the M&J scandal. The strategy then was to help NPP spread the lies that Mr. Hardy was spewing to the unsuspecting Ghanaian public in order to generate disaffection against the NDC government. Oppong Nkrumah must be ashamed now because the outcome of this useless propaganda hit the rock, soon after.
The Informer radar also caught Mr. Oppong Nkrumah recently when the Road Ministry justifiably hiked road tolls. Oppong Nkrumah thought he could use his usual cynical comments on his programme to continuously create disaffection against the government especially in the eyes of commercial drivers and other motorists plying the affected roads in the country.
As discerning as they are, the people of Ghana have seen through and now know that it is better to pay a little amount of money as road tolls to get the roads fixed than to pay with the consequences of fatal accidents and heavy amounts for maintenance, brought about by bad roads.
In one of his programmes, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah said he would be doing an update in every six months to find out whether the Road Ministry was putting proceeds of the road tolls to good use. The Informer does not have any problem with media men trying to hold the NDC government and its appointees accountable to the people. However, the question we want to ask is: Where was Kojo Oppong Nkrumah when his erstwhile NPP imposed taxes upon taxes on the Ghanaian people? Did he make one single attempt to hold the NPP and its corrupt officials accountable to the people of Ghana?
The Informer is aware of the role he played as a ‘gatekeeper’ for the NPP when they were misruling this country. We are also aware of his unsuccessful attempts to get close to the corridors of power in this NDC government. He should come clean and desist from his negative tendencies otherwise we would wage a serious crusade and ‘Jihad’ against him.

If he is peeved because he is not getting the largess he used to get under the NPP government, he should wait till the day his NPP will come back to power, if they will ever be, so that they can use TOR Recovery Levy and other taxes to satisfy his over-bloated budget. If under your NPP government you could not see through your promised marriage to that daughter of our motherland, why should you think the NDC will steal the tax-payer’s money for you?
The NDC government will never succumb to the bullying and blackmailing tactics of charlatans like Oppong Nkrumah. Stealing of tax-payer’s money is not in our dictionary. This you must get, straight.

The Informer will continue to publish our analysis on Kojo Opong Nkrumah, for the good people of Ghana to know his true colours, so that he cant’s continue to hide behind professional broadcasting to deceive the good people of this country.