The government says the Joy News documentary purporting that the State was complicit in the training of a supposed militia is misleading.
The Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, addressing the press on Friday said the documentary “carried a number of significant misrepresentations and misleading impressions.”
[contextly_sidebar id=”tYIkU5D0WM5JD8NgFxkgChu2Zfzv71dh”]The advertising of the documentary, especially in the wake of heightened concerns over political violence, had some expecting alarming footage of militia training.
It focused on a supposed militia group called “De-Eye” which was portrayed as using the Osu Castle as the base of operations.
Political parties have been under the microscope after the violence that marred the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election. The documentary sought to draw a link between De-Eye and the threat of vigilante groups.
But the actual documentary was relatively tame, as Mr. Oppong Nkrumah noted to the press.
“Surprisingly, the 20-minute documentary does not show any evidence of such a militia or a vigilante group training or operating at a security zone. Rather it shows a group of young men and women dressed up in white shirts and black suits converging at the Christianborg Castle in Osu in the belief that jobs will be found for them,” the Minister said.
The Minister also said: “government is of the view that this is most unprofessional and very misleading, and we can only urge the producer and Joy News to avoid such misrepresentations in the future.”
He said the final product also “deliberately failed to highlight the fact that that office had been closed down since October 2018.”
Reaction to documentary
Former President John Mahama described the documentary as harrowing and said the New Patriotic Party Government has produced “enough paint to paint the whole nation black” with the emergence of the supposed militia group.
“Watched a harrowing exposé of how the Osu Castle, until 2013 the office of the President, now used as an Annex, has become the HQ & training camp of a private militia wing of the NPP & Nana Akufo-Addo. Clearly, this admin has produced enough paint to paint the whole nation black,” he said.
The Minority in Parliament also called for the resignation of President Nana Akufo-Addo over the report.
The Minority at a press conference held that the report shook the very foundation of Ghana’s democracy.
The NPP has also denied having any form of affiliation with the De-Eye group and said it did not support their activities in any way.
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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa | citinewsroom.com | Ghana
