NAM1 IS A HERO: INVEST IN ANY NEW SCHEME HE INTRODUCES

Depending of whom I have spoken to since the beginning of the end of Menzgold, I’ve either believed strongly that it was a deliberate diabolic scheme to dupe unsuspecting (or in the words of the Finance Minister, Greedy) investors, or it was a genuine effort to set up a nouvelle gold trading business, different from anything regulators and industry experts had ever envisaged, and share the wealth accrued for everyone’s benefit.

I wish I had heeded to Richard’s advice when he spoke to me about a promising and lucrative gold business he was engaged in almost five years ago. Richard Nana Appiah Mensah or “Negus Negasty” (and sometimes “Stonzy”) as his nicknames were back in school, was my classmate in Adisadel College. We were in an Arts class of less than fifty students so we were a pretty close group.

The aim of this piece is not to chronicle the school life of the “mysterious” Millionaire popularly called NAM1. I aim to convince you through this article that despite all what has been and is being said about the NAM1 and his dealings – whether criminal or pious – there really aren’t many worthy alternative invesment options available to the masses so in our collective interest, we should all hope NAM 1 cooks another scheme for us in the near future.

Hold on with any insults directed at me and finish reading this short piece first…

Customers of Menzgold have been ridiculed and vilified so much that persons who once happily queued to collect their monies in black poly and ‘Ghana Must Go’ bags are now shy to even admit they invested there. When you hear everyone refer to an investment you made as a sign of greed and lack of financial savviness, how do you come out and cry loudly that you are a victim.

I never invested in Menzgold for two main reasons. Firstly, I didn’t have any idle lump sum lying around to deposit, and secondly, as I mentioned earlier, NAM1 was my mate; not just age mate, or another school mate but he sat just two seats behind me for three straight uninterrupted years: he was my classmate and i think i knew him quite well. i knew what he was and what he is capable of doing. I wasn’t going to be easily swayed by the sudden glorious accolades and supposed academic qualifications including economics and mining, all of which he reportedly acquired from the University of Ghana. I was happy for the Nana Appiah I sat in class with and the wealth he commanded but I wasn’t convinced.

The crashing of the NAM Empire was not unexpected, though I support those who blame Government acting through its Agencies, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Bank of Ghana (BOG) for quickening what was otherwise an inevitable slow death.

For decades, many people have had brilliant ideas and plans sitting in nicely labelled folders on their computers, awaiting the elusive miracle of sudden implementation. Such persons and others who have never thought of, attempted to or succeeded in implementing anything worthy on their own, are the harshest critics of NAM1. They fail to recognize that no matter how criminally minded he may have been, the glowing success Nana Appiah achieved in this relatively short period must have been borne out of tact, proper planning and execution. The guy is just a Genius – He met all who mattered in this country and beyond, and single handedly almost collapsed the nation’s financial system which the experts probably believed was robust.

It was easy to avoid investing in Menzgold when I first learnt of it because then, I just didn’t have the cash but now that I do, let me ask… what will be a worthwhile investment if I have Fifty Thousand Ghana Cedis (GhC 50,000.00) in cash today? Save in a bank that will give me less than 5% per annum; invest in a company that offers just about 2% per month or start a business which is likely to be frustrated by the many bottlenecks in the system.

I beat myself each night for not investing heavily with Menzgold while it was Menzbank or even Menzbanc. I surely won’t repeat such a mistake knowing that all the state will do is to issue warnings. At least I could withdraw my principal before the third warning comes in. That would probably be after five years of promptly receiving my cash dividends.

The only real benefit of stopping the activities of Menzgold now is that I don’t have to endlessly explain to parents and close friends who wonder what went wrong with me if indeed I claim NAM1 sat only a few seats away from me in the same class. They will understand there’s truly no shortcut to heaven and I am not doing as badly as NAM1 makes some of us look.

Anyone close to NAM1(his numbers are not going through) should inform him that just as he brought Menz – Bank, Banc and Gold – after the collapse of that gold scheme in Kasoa years back, I will wait for his next ponzi when the Menzgold ‘noise’ dies down and I will invest heavily. After all, as he said while celebrating the “stupidity of ace broadcaster, Israel Laryea”, “Business is not for the Pope”.

Wo suro aaa, wonndi

Author: Pasino Man

Facebook / Twitter: @Pasinoman

Email: pasifred@gmail.com

LOCKDOWN DIARIES #2

THE RIDE 

… I dash for the exit. I can feel the heavy shock and silence behind me. In seconds I am reversing almost hysterically. I realise then that someone has to open the gates for me to drive out. My host bursts out of the front door laughing and shouting; “herh, you be ‘fearo’ (you are a coward), where are you running to?” I m not going to fall for this old trick. Ordinarily I would probably quench the engine, park and pretend not to be afraid, but not this time.

(I may one day tell a story of how years ago, based on a similar dare, I ended up being lashed in front of my class for an obvious stupidity – not again)

It is clearly not the time for jokes as the clock keeps ticking away. I am begging and requesting the gate to be opened. I didn’t even say goodbye properly because every second felt like a minute gone. I am speeding through potholes like I am driving on an asphalted highway.

Earlier that morning before I stepped out, my dad had complained about my outings and the risk it brought to everyone else in the house. I promised to return soon but here I was racing back home at 11:38PM. “I have to get the “fisherman’s friend’ for the Oldman by all means to appease  him”, I thought. I finally got one at a pharmacy and request to pay with MOMO because I hardly carry cash around. The attendant doesn’t look amused but honestly, I couldn’t be bothered because between going home empty handed and dealing with an unpleasant attendant, my obvious choice is a no brainer. As the gods will have it however, the mobile network decides to ‘dance’ with me for while. I think I spent 30 minutes transacting in the pharmacy but my watch would later show I only spent 4 minutes and few seconds. 

I hit the main N4 dual carriage way and I am the only moving vehicle on this usually busy highway. There is a radio documentary about the ‘origins and spread of highly infectious global diseases and pandemics’ on 101.3fm, BBC World service. The guest sounds very knowledgeable and some of the facts he’s speaking are quite scary.  All of a sudden I begin to take stock of my packed day; What was and what could have been – Had I exposed myself in anyway to the virus? Am I coughing or is my throat itching, I quipped.

I suddenly remembered I don’t have my other phone which I often use for work and other official tasks. I last used it at Tony’s house so I knew it would be there. Not retrieving the phone now would mean that for two weeks, I will not respond to many business engagements. I am in deep contemplation whether to return for the phone and risk being caught by the Military guys on my way back, or to ignore work for the next two weeks, (mind you this is ‘pay-day’ week).

I smiled and immediately… (500 word limit – to be continued)

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pasifred@gmail.com

LOCKDOWN DIARIES #1

MY FIRST CURFEW –

Its 10:00pm, and lights are out in this area. My primary number most people know is off, and I am locked up somewhere that I may have to spend the next two weeks, if I don’t leave within the next three hours. I’m having fun here but a ‘little voice’ in my head keeps reminding me that I would have no tangible explanations for why I was here in the first place, and how come I didn’t leave earlier.

Earlier in the day, I ran several errands before linking up with my “Botweburg” brothers. As always, we had good hearty chats about nothing, drank the choicest beverages, ate and reminded ourselves in subtle ways why we need to stay alive and be successful. Quame MP put it better when he said “wiase y3 d3”.

My name is Pasino Man and for the first time in my life, I have to hole myself up in the house, not of my free will but in compliance with the Friday night directive of the President of Ghana for a two-week lockdown- asking all to stay home. Technically I should not be affected since I am an essential service provider, but I can work from home so I intend to try and stay home for the next two weeks; something I have never attempted or done in my adult life.

I am always on the move and the last place to find me on a regular day is the house.

I moved back in to my parents’ over the weekend because everyone had concerns about my health. I admit to having a poor eating habit and though all who have tasted my meals will attest to my extraordinary cooking skills, I will easily opt for a can of soda and biscuit than spend hours in the kitchen cooking a single meal. Being alone in a house for two straight weeks and counting was therefore going to unsettle anyone who cared about me so I agreed to temporarily relocate from my apartment to my parents’.  To occupy my time, I have made resolutions to learn a totally new skill; Computer coding, and to write more. Yes, I have not written articles for my blog (www.pasinoman.wordpress.com) for a while because I have been busy but now I have no excuse. My lockdown chronicles will be a Five hundred-word article.

It’s getting warm and interesting in here. I am enjoying the conversations and all that’s coming with it (insert wink emoji). Upon recommendations, I know I have to get a dietary supplement (blood tonic) to aid me eat more in this period. I steal a glimpse at my wrist and realize its thirty (30) minutes after Eleven (11:30). I immediately start hearing police/military sirens from a distance and my heart begins to skip beats. I have flashbacks of a social media video of military guys threatening mayhem on anyone who flouts the “stay home” directive.

I grab my car keys and without warning… (500 word limit – to be continued)

follow me: @Pasinoman

pasifred@gmail.com

BAN STONEBWOY & FREE SHATTA WALE

The 20^th edition of the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA) was nearly marred by Stonebwoy and rival dancehall (or should I say Highlife) Artiste (insert tongue-out emoji), Shatta Wale. This has been widely condemned, and rightly so.

The event had been built to be a spectacle. The pre-event hype was on point; a new dome had been erected just days before the event, and for the first time in a couple of years, Shatta Wale was back on the bill after ‘smoking a pipe’ with Charter House – Organizers of the show. We were all obviously excited and naturally, tension within the two dancehall camps were very high. Since 2012 when I quit working at Charter House for school, I have not been to the GMAs. Before you think it’s because I had to buy my own tickets which usually doesn’t come cheap, remember that that I still have good friends there who wouldn’t mind sneaking one or two complimentary tickets for me if I requested.

The massive hype around this year’s event however got me interested and it wasn’t difficult landing a ticket to the show though I eventually handed it to a random lady at the gate. I rather headed straight to the “Red Lounge” specially created for high valued customers of Vodafone. There was a cocktail stand serving free drinks of choice; music; finger foods and screens beaming live scenes from the auditorium, which was about hundred meters away. Tell me if you wouldn’t have chosen such treat over sitting in the auditorium.

We would occasionally turn our attention from the drinks to catch a glimpse of what was on the screen but largely, we couldn’t be bothered. The audience uproar when Shatta Wale entered the hall couldn’t be missed, and all seemed to move on smoothly afterwards till that moment; That moment when Abeiku Santana mentioned that for the fifth (5^th) successive time, Stonebwoy was the Reggae/Dancehall Artiste of the year. The tension prior to this announcement was tangible.

Obviously unhappy with the announcement, Shatta Wale approached the stage, followed by an army of SM “Militants”, ostensibly to congratulate the Stonebwoy for the feat, or as Bulldog will have us believe on ‘Citi TV’ on Monday night, “to go greet the Minister of Tourism” (insert Rolling eyes emoji). Whichever of these two ‘noble’ reasons motivated Shatta Wale to surge with his convoy towards the stage, an obviously frightened and emotionally weak Stonebwoy reached for a gun (which he later claims was a toy gun) from one of his aids. The rest of what happened is public knowledge and I won’t bore you with that.

But wait, what was Stonebwoy’s biggest fear when he saw the group of SM boys surging towards the stage with their boss?

He feared that they will stab him like he claims was done to the wife during his BHIM concert in his own backyard, Ashaiman? – and they will do this while he’s on stage, on live TV across the continent, , before thousands of live audience and with armed security personnel all around the stage? Did he possibly fear that Shatta Wale was coming to snatch his award? Assuming this incident degenerated into a real gun fight, was Stonebwoy ready to stand ‘pa-tu-pa’ with whoever will be shooting from the other side? If it was to put some fear in the surging fans, why didn’t he raise the gun aloft so that the group could clearly see that Commander has a gun, or even fire a warning shot to disperse them? What was the briefing when they loaded the gun from home and agreed that it will be given to Stonebwoy incase anything went amiss.

I have seen several arguments online blaming Shatta Wale’s seeming attempt to climb the stage (Bulldog disputes this narrative though) as the root cause of melee. They ask what business he had doing on the stage? – Funny. What business did Stonebwoys Manager and the other guys with him have doing on the stage as well. Were they all accredited by Organizers to be on stage just because they are friends of the winner? If they could be there, why can’t a fellow artiste climb same stage too? Who determined who was right to mount the stage and who wasn’t? – Obviously not Stonebwoy and his team.

Let’s flip the script for a minute and imagine if Stonebwoy had tried a similar stunt of walking up stage and Shatta Wale was rather the one who pulled the gun. Would we be making same excuses of provocation for Shatta Wale too? Or like some have said, Stonebwoy wouldn’t do any such thing. Well that’s mere assumption because clearly, till Stonebwoy cowardly pulled a gun for a fear which existed only in his head, we all somehow believed he couldn’t even kill a mosquito sucking his blood.

Will the known neighborhood rapist or paedophile be justified just because once more, Adjovi chose to wear skimpy revealing clothing at night? To wit, so because Shatta Wale has issued verbal threats and taunted Stonebwoy on social media, Stonebwoy was right to pull a gun and claim Shatta’s presence was enough provocation?

Wale had a right to enter any part of the hall he wanted to, so far as his tag for the event granted him “All Access” in the auditorium. He didn’t physically or verbally attack anyone, and so far, no one has proved that he personally directed the fans to be violent once they got on the stage. In fact, from the video footages that are on social media, the first blow or push back which started the brawl came from a member of Stonebwoy’s camp. Who then are the aggressors here?

As Kwame Sefa-Kayi eloquently said on radio on Monday, if the gun is licensed, same should be revoked immediately and the gun seized because clearly the BHIM nation boss lacks the emotional intelligence to handle a weapon as delicate as a gun. If he badly needs a weapon to feel personally secure, he can start with a catapult or cane because a gun in a wrong hand is just a fatal disaster waiting to happen. – And someone please tell Stonebwoy to stop that childish attempt at always playing victim cos it makes me sick. It was same victim posture he sold to us when he was reported to have fired a gunshot in March 2018, in an incident involving him and Bulldog at Champs sports bar in Accra. Not this time, Aaaabwoy – we won’t be fooled a second time. Why are you always the victim whenever You pull out a gun –Why always you?

Charter House should just ban Stonebwoy for three years from the awards, strip him of the award he won on the night and deny him the Artiste of the year award he was set to win… and while at it free Shatta Wale from cells cos he was only taking a walk in the auditorium. He did no wrong.

Writer: pasinoman.wordpress.com

Facebook / Twitter: @Pasinoman

Email: pasifred@gmail.com

THE ‘UNTOUCHABLE’ WEEKEND CITY SHOW & ECG PREPAID APP WAHALA

 

 

Over the weekend, Social media, especially Facebook in Ghana was ‘lit’. There were two incidents that caught my attention. One was a constructive criticism about a radio show, met with cynicism and anger, while the other was a disclaimer, which was greeted with counter disclaimers and accusations.

I won’t bore you with details of the childish and errant reaction that greeted a regular Facebook user, who rightly questioned what has become of the once adored award-winning show, the ‘Weekend City Show’ on Joy 99.7fm. Clearly the state of the show now is a pale shadow of itself former glorious self. Gone are the days when even after a long night out on Fridays, I would set an alarm to wake up early to listen to intelligent wit & humour from Rami Baiti, Ato Kwamena Dadzie, Anny Osabutey and later, Rudy Kwakye. Instead of taking the assessment of the current state of the programme as good feedback, handlers of the show, with support from a few misguided praise singers online, took to Facebook to attack and malign their critics.

The path of self destruction they have chosen is not even the focus of my piece today. I am going to center on the ‘who the cap fits’ controversy, that followed a seemingly innocuous disclaimer, issued by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG). The Company noted that some individuals and groups were advertising mobile platforms through which customers of the Company could purchase pre-paid credits, without hassle or physically visiting the vending station, and distanced itself from such entities and their products.

Though the statement did not directly name anyone or group, Facebook users fit the cap squarley on “Ghana’s biggest Tech Entrepreneur – Kane Mani” and trolled him for wanting to use ‘the backdoor’ to promote his business. Well, the CEO of Origgin – developers of the App, rightly responded, explaining that contrary to claims in ECG’s disclaimer, he had not stated anywhere that his App was developed with support from ECG. He has subsequently issued another statement and promised to follow up with a video, ostensibly to call the bluff of ECG and announce that the earlier advertised development and release of his Mobile App. will continue unabated.

But is there really the need for a mobile prepaid App to relieve customers from the burden of joining long queues or sleeping in darkness because their credits ran out in the middle of the night? If there is the need for such a solution, who best should spearhead it; the ECG or a ‘random’ tech savvy individual? Lastly, why will the Electricity Company of Ghana bother to distance itself from such an initiative if indeed it has its customers at heart and the App promises to make life easy for such customers?

In this modern era where everything; from finding a partner, conceiving a baby, to participating in global meetings could be easily achieved without being physically present, one would obviously have to agree that it is not only archaic but quite ancient, to still have to join long winding queues, just to reload credits. Even worse is sleeping in darkness because the credits ran out late at night. This must change and the ECG is best placed to spearhead such revolution. It could be in partnership with others, but certainly the status quo cannot continue for long!!!.

From their public statements and posturing, it is clear that the Origgin Company and its CEO clearly do not understand the prepaid environment in Ghana, and they have not bothered to educate themselves enough on what the potential bottlenecks of advertising a product, ‘conceived in a silo and still in labour’, could be. To use technology to make life simple for electricity customers in Ghana is innovative but certainly not nouvelle. The Origgin App will basically interface with accredited vendors to service requests by paid up customers; something accredited Vendors could also do using the Mobile Money service.

Per what’s available now, should the App be launched, only few customers can benefit from it. These are those who use meters, which do not require a smart card to make purchases. Meaning, the majority of ECG customers who are required to physically present a card at a vending station to make purchases cannot use the App. This shortfall is not acknowledged or mentioned anywhere in the many recorded videos, circulating online; promoting Origgin’s solution to customers’ prepaid purchasing challenges. It can very easily be an avenue for fraud, since without enough sensitization that the App cannot function for all types of prepaid meters, many of ECG’s customers may use the App and neither get the credits nor a refund. This will obviously present a crisis to the ECG, which will have to resolve a headache it played no role in generating.

The good news however is that the ECG in its ‘disclaimer’ announced that its Engineers are developing an App whose advantages far outweigh the half-hearted attempt by unauthorized ‘techies’. With the ECG app, prepaid customers can make purchases 24hrs a day, and service is rendered in minutes.  Imagine if the accredited vendors Origgin works with are unavailable at the moment you make a request, it could take hours if not days for you to be served.  Also, with the ECG app, prepaid customers get the exact value of their purchases, no extra charges, and customers can track the history of their purchases. Post paid customers can even pay their bills through this app.

As for me and my friends, no matter how long it takes, we will comfortably wait to use such an app. from the ‘devil’ We know (ECG), than use one from the staples of the “waakye locator App.”, which cannot even tell us which waakye seller’s shito is hot.

Author: pasinoman

Twitter: @pasinoman

Email: pasifred@gmail.com

Ban Counselor Lutterodt from the media

You may have come across a particular young, often well-dressed and charismatic gentleman on one media platform or the other, ostensibly professing all solutions to salvage or ensure a successful marriage.

Initially, he started off as an unknown resource person, called into shows to share his perspectives for a few minutes. Even back then, he still had interesting views on various subjects but he was quite a delight to listen to. From making few remarks on a subject, he has upgraded and gained a permanent seat on several radio and television shows. In fact, there are shows on which he has a dedicated segment for interaction.

Rev Counsellor Cyril George Carstensen Lutterodt looks like the maverick relationship and marriage counsellor of our time. But have you really paid attention to the things he says aside his fine dressing, name and way of talking?

For a long time, I was convinced that a major reason why pleasing a lot of young women in this country has increasingly become difficult was because of their over-exposure to foreign telenovelas. ‘

These soaps are fake and unreal.

Their plots are set in fantasy, giving many of their addicts a belief that there is a perfect world out there. To them, hiding somewhere is this world is a Prince charming. Yes, that Prince who will go down on a knee to propose, serve you breakfast in bed, cry and forgive you when he realizes you are cheating on him and carry out all of the woman’s wishes as though they were commands.

I really blamed the telenovelas until I started paying attention to Counsellor Luterrodt.

Counsellor Luterrodt usually makes his craziest assertions in a very charismatic way that though you may be fuming, you cannot tune off. Some of his bogus advice have been on very sensitive social issues that ordinarily require some tact and empathy in addressing. The issues he sometimes callously attempts to address are often very critical to making life-long or life changing decisions.

Did you hear Counsellor Lutterodt advice women not to allow any ‘poor man’ to marry them?

How about the advice that any man who cannot feed himself should also not attempt to marry?

Forget about trying to rationalize these or any of the other controversial statements but I can assure you; blindly follow his advice and you will have to beg people in worse situations to marry you later.

Read about the (auto) biographies of some of the most accomplished business people in the world. Many started from humble beginnings but with the support of their partners and family, they have built continental and global empires over years. Had the women in the lives of some of these accomplished men been exposed to the vile messages of Counselor Lutterodt, I bet they would still be waiting for ‘Mr. Right’ till today, while their once poor ‘boyfriends’ bask in success.

I have managed to avoid paying any attention to the counsellor and his shenanigans over the past few years, but looks like I have had enough. I recently invited a pretty young lady I had just met for a night out but her response was ‘please it’s too early. Counsellor Lutterodt said a lady should not go on dates outside, the guy should rather come to her home’. Can you imagine?

Counsellor Lutterodt must just be banned from the media.

Who is Abraham Attah that no one can tease?

I have read with shock but little surprise how three radio personalities were taken to the cleaners yesterday. What was their crime? (Granted) they teased a young man who has achieved what many in his field may never achieve in their lifetime. Abraham Attah has won and presented Awards on stages that many can only dream of and he is still only 14yrs Old. Yes, he is a HERO, and done so well.

But does that mean no one can tease him? If he makes a mistake, No one can talk about it? Have you not seen many videos of younger kids reciting/singing the National pledge/anthem wrongly on social media and we all laughed? And oh, have we forgotten quickly about the songs and jokes after President Mills made the famous ‘ecomini’ slips?  What makes Abraham Attah any different? Because he has achieved so much in such short time or because he is a young innocent boy, no one dares tease him? I just don’t get the logic.

If any young man said ‘Tsenk you, Tsenk you’ on any other day, are we saying with all sincerity that we will see nothing wrong with it? And who among us did not laugh out loud, or at least giggle small when we saw clips of AB’s speech/mistake at the Awards ceremony?

We need to grow more tolerant and have enough space to accommodate each other’s opinion, and stop this unnecessary hypocritical attempt at Nationalism. How does a Presenter, merely repeating someone’s mistakes in jest (regardless of the person’s age and achievements), mean they are ‘hating’ and seek to bring them down.

Many of us who chastised the presenters have no clue what they actually said and yet, we are the loudest and have used the most expletives on them.

Abraham Attah needs to be praised and guided to even achieve higher heights. Let’s not be sycophantic and lead this talented young man into an abyss of over-confidence. By all means let us applaud and encourage him, but don’t let us try to make him too comfortable to repeat some mistakes which we all admit are basic.

Mind you, no one complained about his accent. Saying ‘Tsenk you’ is not about your accent, it’s about phonetics and we all learn each passing day. Let us cut the presenters some slack, because many, if not all of us would have done same if we were in their shoes.

Now that they have apologized, can we turn our attention to the (True) State of the Nation now?

Kudos Abraham!!!

 

Twitter: @Pasinoman

Email: Pasifred@gmail.com

Blog: Pasinoman.wordpress.com

SHATTA WALE OWES CHARTER HOUSE NO APOLOGY

When I first heard rumours that Shatta Wale was not going to be nominated for any category in this year’s Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA), I hoped it was nothing but hot air being blown by faceless doom mongers. The rumours, however gained more currency as the days went by, and the sources of the filla were even more authentic. Throughout the latter part of 2015, several people asked if Shatta could win the coveted VGMA Artiste of the Year Award once again – I certainly had no doubt.

I have been a keen follower of Shatta Wale’s career and music, though from a safe distance. I admit that by no stretch of a definition can I qualify as an ‘SM Fan’ (as fans of Shatta Wale are referred to), because unlike his many followers who adore him and know almost all lyrics to his songs, I basically couldn’t care less. I cannot fully sing any of his songs to save my life. Neither would I run out if I heard he was next door – but trust that I would peep through the window and smile to myself.

The love lost relationship between Shatta Wale and Charter house (Organisers of the Ghana Music Awards) is well documented. From when Shata went berserk because he lost the dancehall song of the year award in 2013 to female dancehall songstress, Kaakie, to the diss song he later released against the organisers saying ‘me need no award’, it has been a soap opera with a far more exciting plot than ‘Kumkum bagya’.

After his first public attack on the VGMA organisers, the two parties managed to build bridges albeit, in hindsight, with inferior materials. Shatta did not only perform at the 2013 ‘Ghana Rocks’ concert also organized by Charter house but he was later nominated for, and won the Artiste of the Year at the 2014 VGMA. It was here that all hell broke loose. Shatta (and Sarkodie) reportedly demanded outrageous amounts to perform at the awards ceremony. Organisers obviously did not give in to the demands, and in the aftermath of the event, Shatta Wale released a series of personally recorded videos on social media, attacking the CEO of Charter house, Iyiola Ayoade. Shatta was dragged to court and that case is still in court.

About a month ago when nominations for the Oscar Awards (the most prestigious movie Awards in Hollywood) were released, Jada Pinkett Smith, wife of actor and musician Will Smith, complained about the lack of diversity in the nominees and virtually branded the Awards, “racist’ – because there was no nomination for any black actors. The seriousness of being tagged racist in the U.S is akin to being called a homosexual in Ghana. Many other ‘people of color’ waded into the controversy, with some threatening to boycott the live event. What was the response of organisers? – Obviously not a stifled attempt to demand an apology from anyone to save face or name.

In 2009, Kanye West mounted the stage after Taylor Swift had won the Award for best female video at the MTV Music Video Awards. Kanye insisted that Beyonce’s ‘single ladies’ had a better video and deserved to win. The bad media reviews which followed were testament that Kanye had obviously brought the awards into disrepute. But did organizers literally attempt to strangle Kanye? NO!!! In fact, in 2015, Kanye won the Vanguard Award at MTV Music Video Award stage.

Need I talk about rapper Jay-Z’s boycott of the Grammy Awards between 1999 and 2002, and the awards he won during and subsequent to that period albeit without any public apology?

Back home in Ghana, during the 2004 edition of the Nescafe Africa Revelation contest which saw the now defunct music duo ‘Wutah’ emerge as winners, Reggie Rockstone mounted the stage to insist that ‘Mobile Boys’ deserved to be winners and not Wutah. Should Reggie have been forced to apologize before Mobile boys were given their runner-up package?  Also in 2007, when Kwaw Kesse was on top of his game and accordingly won the Arts Critics and Reviewers Association of Ghana’s (ACRAG) award for Arts and Entertainment, he was presented with a stool as his Award. Kwaw went on Television to complain about the finishing of the stool carving and how worthless the wooden edifice was. During an interview, He threw it on the lawns of TV3, and in what was a comedy skit, the interviewer chased him with the stool while he walked away.

Most prestigious Awards in the world have been denigrated one way or the other by artistes. In every competitive endeavor, the loser (and sometimes even winners) plays victim to court some sympathy, and from the rich experience Charter house has garnered over the years, they, more than anyone else, ought to understand this and deal with it better.

Why is Charter House asking Shatta Wale to apologise publicly as part of processes to complete ‘bla bla bla’, before he can be considered for nominations? Have these processes been formally communicated to Shatta Wale and his team, or it was just an after thought intended to victimize the Artiste? Whatever the ill-intent was, the decision as announced is clearly unfair; childish; an intimidation and a cheap attempt at bullying.

I know from credible sources that as part of Shatta’s personal rebranding efforts, he earlier issued an apology on facebook and met a team from Charter house to apologise. The meeting was inconclusive but Shatta was warmly received and given audience, so why this show of bad faith now by Charter house?

What exactly is Shatta Wale to apologise for? What he said in the video that has landed him in court or the claim that he doesn’t need an award? Aside the persistence of his criticisms, and admittedly, very crudely vulgar language sometimes, what has Shatta said that hasn’t been said before? Artistes have always asked to be excused from nominations; accused organisers of demanding bribes or extorting monies, and even criticized organizers as being discriminatory in the treatment given foreign Acts, as against prominent local Artistes.

Shatta Wale should be allowed to freely think and say whatever he likes about any Awards scheme. Charter House can choose to pass all the bye laws it desires, to govern the music awards too. Charter House can also pick and choose who to include in their awards scheme, but to demand that one gives a public apology before being considered is just way below the belt. It’s utter nonsense!!

It feels like a typical staff common room experience where a group of male students who teased and called the Mathematics mistress names because of her weird hairstyle are punished and asked to apologise at the morning Assembly, or else, she won’t teach the class again. Well, try that in my Arts class, which never liked Maths anyway, and the apology will come after the teacher’s retirement.

Can Charter House reference any credible award organiser anywhere in the world, who has made such an incredulous and schoolboy demand from an artiste, for possible nominations?

Shatta Wale; DO NOT APOLOGISE!!! – Not because you have not offended anyone, but because this is pure coercion. Apologizing will only lead to a clamp down on Artistes’ rights to freely express themselves about the VGMA. Charter house knows the route to the courts, and should not hesitate to head there anytime they feel slighted or offended by any individual. Charter house cannot play God and seek to control the Artiste – it is just wrong.

But wait ooo, after vehemently criticizing the Music Awards in the past, which public platforms did Nii Ayi-Tagoe and Rex Omar use to render apologies to the Awards scheme before being rewarded with spots on the Board that took this bogus decision? `Four legs good, two legs bad`?

 

Twitter: @Pasinoman

Email: Pasifred@gmail.com

Blog: Pasinoman.wordpress.com

 

 

 

 

 

LETTER: Don’t #BringBackNanaAba; I WONT MISS HER ON TV3

Hi Nana Aba,

I hope you are well.  Have my sympathy, condolences and support because I know the past few days have certainly not been easy for you. Speculatively, I can say with no authority vested in me that no past event in your life can rival those of the past week. I share your pain.

Nana Aba, you are a very beautiful, articulate, confident, suave, cute and intelligent lady; something that is hard to find in many Ghanaian ladies. I admire you for all these qualities because in a culture where women are often backing vocalists and never the lead singers, you have done well.

I first took notice of you when during the 2010 World Cup, you introduced what has transformed to be the Diva show on TV3. Though I am not an avid screen patron, I was impressed by your finesse and control over the programme. In fact, I fell immediately in love with you and the show.

Fast forward and now you have blossomed into this all round TV celebrity; the like we haven’t had in Ghana in a while. You read news, host magazine programmes, talk about sports, conduct interviews…. In fact, you have done a lot, and that’s impressive.

On the few occasions I have encountered you, my impressions of you were not far from what I observed on TV. – Strong willed, articulate, cheeky and blunt -.  Yes, blunt; that word, ‘blunt’; is a quality I failed to appreciate when I was just admiring you on TV. Your sharp tongue, and confidence sometimes give you out as being condescending, disrespectful and too-known.

The hullabaloo that greeted your prank-gone-wrong on twitter was no fluke. It was just a matter of time but I guess you were too busy sharpening your tongue and ‘dealing’ with every one in your way that you failed to recognize the conspicuous indelible ‘red dot in the white Japanese flag’.

On numerous occasions when people who are awed by your success made seemingly innocuous overtures or tweeted at you, what was your response? – Cheeky. I guess you thought it was all in jest. Yes, may be it was, and so far as your followers kept increasing and your fans cheered you on, who could suggest it wasn’t a joke.

What you failed to realize however, was that these people you freely embarrassed and sometimes humiliated with your cheeky replies have egos (no matter how small), and they also had friends.  You bruised their egos and often embarrassed their friends, with little care.

I particularly remember when a fan of yours on twitter requested to take you out on mother’s day. Well, in typical ‘NA..A’ style, you gave it to him; ‘Go and take your mother out’, you said. People jeered and laughed, and only God knows how many times that post was retweeted. This ‘fan’ was the joke of the day and the ‘Asala’ you gave him,(as I hear such ‘yawa’ replies are called) was trending, albeit on a smaller scale compared to yours. You thought such a person and his friends would not want to revenge given the opportunity? Or did you assume that your fans who hailed and joked and laughed at what you typed would be so loyal not to turn on you when the tables turned?

You see, social media works differently from traditional media. On TV, you freely decide whose text message to read, you can pass loose comments on people’s views and they can’t reply you, you can choose to cut a caller off air when you don’t like his views etc., but on social media, all you can do is to block a follower, nothing else. Even that, I guess Hon. Hannah Tetteh and Yvonne Nelson (the queen of twitter blockades) will attest from experience that blocking solves nothing. It only increases the volume of the chorus.

I have read a lot of articles since your ‘prank theft’ story broke, and needless to say, all my thoughts about how right or wrong you or TV3 are, have been aptly expressed by others, so no need rehashing. However, let me put the following on record; I do not feel sorry for you in the least that you were trolled and you were trending for such a reason. I have seen you do worse to people and so why should I feel sorry when you sniff a dose of your own medicine.

I also believe that though TV3 is well within its rights to take any action to protect the integrity of their brand, the approach of issuing a press release and resurrecting a carcass, which was all but already devoured by the vultures was unnecessary. This matter could have been dealt with internally and the punishment, less severe.

I doubt I will be one of those who will miss you off TV. Honestly speaking, but for that press release from your station, I would not have even noticed you were off air because like I said earlier, I don’t watch much TV, and also because on the few occasions I have,I have complained to my friends at TV3 that the way you scream and shout on top of your voice when hosting politicians on the morning show is irritating, very very irritating.

Amidst the discussions, noise, pleas and subtle jubilation (of ‘haters’) over your predicament, I believe you will have some ‘you’ time and do a thorough introspection. Social media (especially Twitter) is a not your usual traditional media platform. It’s an ‘Astroturf’ and you will need to learn the unwritten rules of engagement well. We need you to bounce back bigger than ever, and take your rightful place to the delight of your numerous fans and newly found admirers. People love you; they certainly do, but do you?

I admit that things being different, this letter should have been addressed to Afia Scwharzeneggar but just as you failed to see the red dot in the flag, I know its just a matter of time for her too. Sometimes, it costs nothing for ‘celebrities’ to be nice; sad you learnt it the hard way.

May I please ask where exactly you were seated when my darling Arsenal nearly annihilated Manchester United at the Emirates? I hear you were there some.lol

I hate Manchester United but I certainly love that nicely placed beauty spot under your nose.

Yours faithfully,

An ordinary Ghanaian

Twitter: @Pasinoman

Email: Pasifred@gmail.com

Blog: Pasinoman.wordpress.com

HAVE THE STARS SHINED AT STARR FM? – A YEAR ON

I paid attention to, and wrote about Starr FM about a year ago, when the newly established station attempted to plunge the whole country into stark darkness by employing all stars – including those in the skies – to work in one station. I was skeptical about this move because we had witnessed several failed attempts by other radio stations in the past.

Well, a year after I wrote ‘Why the Stars at Starr May Not Shine’, I am back again to review my thoughts. Were my sentiments a premonition?

Starr FM has certainly come to stay, no doubt. With such a fat bottomless purse, why won’t they stay? The average ‘Joe’ in Accra who is aware that Ghana currently has a substantive Vice-President and even knows his name also knows of Starr FM. They don’t necessarily need to have listened to the station before; being aware of its existence alone is enough. At least, if a staff said to an acquaintance that ‘I work at Starr’, he/she doesn’t have to explain whether Starr produces pure water, alcoholic beverage, T-roll or diapers; the public knows what they do.

The past one-year must really have been an interesting ride for the Starr family. From the highly patronized massive ‘S-Concert’ on the Osu Oxford street (it was a free show on the street so what did you expect with crowd?), through the continuous arrival of both on-air and off-air staff – albeit in smaller droves – from ‘mother’ company, ‘Multimedia,’ to the ‘voodoo’ research that named Starr as the most-listened-to English radio station in Accra, this year old baby with sharp teeth has certainly known no dull moment.

On air, there have been the highs and the lows. I mean continuous highs and some perpetuated lows.

Ever tried listening to the morning show on Starr FM? *Yawns*. I know I am not qualified to attempt critiquing a genius like Kafui Dey. I look up to him when it comes to MCeeing. In fact, I have read his book, How to MC any Event about eight times already and still counting. I am a distant mentee of his, but to say the Starr FM Morning Show is anything but boring will be akin to me saying “the Cedi is more valuable than the dollar.”

And why was the much advertised ‘Kafui and Jackie Ankrah’ co-hosting of the show ditched? Well, maybe someone realized that there was no point serving an overdose of potent poison. Whoever you are, thanks for sparing us the agony.

‘The Zone’ with Naa Ashorkor has grown. Yes, it has. For someone who had no radio experience prior to Starr FM, she can only get better. I will give Naa another year before I make any judgments. If you heard Naa in her first few weeks and heard her on the show today, you would agree she has grown with the show. More time will just be fair for someone I call my friend.

But wait ooo… Is Naa not too everywhere on my TV nowadays? Well, never mind.

In my honest opinion, the flagship of Starr FM has been the drive with Bola Ray. Yes, trust the Emperor in his usual hype-man fashion to make you believe that a small event for about 25 people is the biggest thing to happen in West Africa. If you doubt his antics, try asking Sarkodie what made him brag so much to incur the wrath of Ace hood, almost marring the release of their collaboration. It’s a joy listening to Bola anytime and I love the weekly ‘Starr Chat’.

Again, it is too early to comment on the ‘BolAnita’ partnership. The prospects certainly look good but let’s give it sometime. Jon Germain isn’t doing badly with his ‘drop off’ show either. He’s quite a pleasant home-bound traffic companion.

I have listened to ‘Starr news’ a couple of times but in all those moments, its either because for some strange reason, I could not tune in to Joy FM or even Citi FM, or because I didn’t own the car from which the sound was bleating so I couldn’t help but listen. When was the last time an issue raised on Starr news became a topical one in Ghana? Well, don’t mind my bias but we all know where to turn to for breaking news.

The online outfit of the station started with a bang, but since Archbishop Duncan-Williams stopped making controversial comments from the pulpit and since discerning readers saw through the sinister agenda in releasing the hotel CCTV footage from the ‘KKD Saga’, the site has practically seized to be of much impact. Somebody tell ‘Habemus Papa’ to please say something about gays or women this Sunday. Starrfmonline.com needs it badly!

Certainly, there are shows on Starr that I believe are clearly direct clones of those on other stations. Saturday’s ‘Morning Zoo’ and ‘Club Arena’ are such examples. Why go to Peter when I can directly get Jesus? After all, who doesn’t know originals are better than counterfeits?

As for the research that said Starr was the-most-listened-to English station after barely six months in operation, it only reminded me of a joke that says: “The funniest jokes are jokes which are not funny the moment they are told!” Days, months and years after, when you remember how ‘unfunny’ the joke was, and the silly look on the joker’s face, you may laugh your heart out to death. Well, I am having one such good laugh now. The most terrible joke of a study I have read in a while!

On a scale of 1-100, I will give Starr FM 65%. Not for its successful on-air exploits, but for the great top-of-mind recall it enjoys. As for the numerous stars and how they are faring after a year, I guess I enjoy it anytime Ama Selormey presents the entertainment news.

I insist it’s not always about the big names!!!

Happy Birthday Starr FM.

Twitter: @Pasinoman

Email: Pasifred@gmail.com

Blog: Pasinoman.wordpress.com