Sixteen members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) have been found guilty and fined by an Achimota Magistrate Court for their involvement in the invasion of UTV premises and obstruction of the primetime show.
The court has ordered each person to pay GH¢2,400. They had been charged with conspiracy to commit a crime and rioting, to which they pleaded guilty.
Their invasion of UTV studios occurred on Saturday, October 7, 2023, during the live broadcast of United Showbiz. The NPP members believed that the show had become a platform for unprofessional and unfair criticism of the government.
They also claimed that political activist and regular panellist A Plus had torn apart a letter from the NPP to UTV’s management requesting a reform of the show, on-air.
The police arrested and prosecuted them accordingly, following which the National Media Commission and the Ghana Journalists Association condemned the incident.
The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) has strongly condemned the attack on a media house by a group of young men reportedly affiliated with the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP). The GJA referred to the act as “barbaric and medieval,” and criticized the recent efforts to curb press freedom in the country.
The association made it clear that the media in Ghana have withstood all forms of clampdown in the past and will not be silenced by any form of attack.
While some members of the NPP have tried to deny the affiliation of the group to the party, the National Youth Organiser of the party, Salam Mustapha, confirmed that the young men were indeed members of the NPP.
During an appearance on Ghana’s leading current affairs show on radio, Ekosiisen, Salam Mustapha acknowledged the affiliation and denounced the attack.
He, however, explained that the party did not sanction the actions of the youth, comprising of constituency youth organizers and a Deputy Greater Accra Youth Organiser.
“I can’t be on this platform and claim that I don’t know them. All those in the video I know them. And I can confirm that some of them are constituency youth organisers, and one is a Deputy Regional Youth Organiser [Greater Accra]. They are the guys that I work with, and so I cannot deny their bona fide membership to the New Patriotic Party. As for that, I cannot lie on this platform. They’re NPP members that I work with, and I can state emphatically that I know them” he noted.
