{"id":235853,"date":"2016-08-01T12:00:04","date_gmt":"2016-08-01T12:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=235853"},"modified":"2016-08-01T12:00:04","modified_gmt":"2016-08-01T12:00:04","slug":"the-danger-in-ndcs-fake-anger-over-montie-3-article","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2016\/08\/the-danger-in-ndcs-fake-anger-over-montie-3-article\/","title":{"rendered":"The danger in NDC’s fake anger over Montie 3 [Article]"},"content":{"rendered":"
They say when the gods want to destroy you, they first make you partisan. Judging by the reaction of the ministers and supporters of the governing National Democratic Congress(NDC) to the jailing of the Montie Trio, I suspect the gods may have it in for them.<\/p>\n
Ministers and supporters are mounting pressure on President John Dramani Mahama to invoke powers under Article 72 of the constitution to pardon the three men who were jailed on contempt charges by the Supreme Court. <\/span>
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\n<\/span>[contextly_sidebar id=”i37d2dTafKJHjyl2rdnh05d4tDoEAf4j”]Top officials including Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hanna Tetteh; Deputy Minister of Education, Okudzeto Ablakwa; Valerie Sawyer, Head of the Presidential Unit, Minister for Tourism; even the Secretary to Cabinet, Roger Angsomwine have all signed a book of petition to compel the president to forgive the three. While acknowledging that the comments made by the three were unacceptable, these officials insist the four-month sentence is too harsh and have organized vigils and rallied senior colleagues and foot-soldiers to sign the petition.<\/span>
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\n<\/span>The three – Salifu Maase (also known as \u2018Mugabe\u2019: the host of a political talk show on Montie FM) and two panelists, Alistair Nelson and Godwin Akogun – were sentenced to a four-month jail term<\/strong><\/span><\/a> for threatening the Supreme Court judges with harm, rape and death over their handling of the case on the credibility of the current voters register. <\/span>
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\n<\/span>It has to be noted that Montie FM is a known pro-NDC station. Not in that way that <\/span>all<\/span><\/em> stations are branded NDC or NPP-leaning. No: this runs deeper. Those who have listened to the show in question say it has a no-holds-barred format where everything from slander to attacking opposition parties and miseducating supporters of the party is allowed, just as it is on other radio stations set up by politicians to misinform their supporters and create hate for the other party. That is in fact the real issue we should be addressing, had people we respect and assumed to have some integrity not started signing that useless petition: the idea that politicians can set up radio stations and use it to threaten and undermine their opponents and state agencies.<\/span><\/p>\n