A journalist with Kumasi-based Zuria FM, Yussif Abdul Ganiu, popularly known as “Nshola”, has been found guilty by the Asokwa District Court in Kumasi over some inciteful comments he made which were likely to breach public peace.
The District Magistrate Judge, Afia Densi Asare-Kyire, delivering the judgment against the accused person on a charge of offensive conduct conducive to breach public peace yesterday, said the prosecution had proven beyond doubt the case against the accused person with both video and documentary evidence.
Facts
The facts of the case, as presented by Assistant State Attorney Kwabena Amponsah Asare, was that on April 20, 2021, the accused person Yussif AbdulGaniu (Nshola) without provocation was on live radio on Zuria FM and streaming live online on Facebook, used unprintable words against the CEO of Alpha Radio Sheikh Mohammed Ridwan, an Islamic Scholar and a philanthropist and the complainant in the case.
The accused person wrongly and mischievously accused the complainant of appropriating public and community property to himself and called Zango youth to rise, revolt and take back what belonged to them.
Again, on the same programme on Zuria FM, the accused person also instigated the Kumasi Muslim community against the complainant and called the Muslim communities to boycott the complainant’s radio station for allowing the preaching of all faiths on his radio station (Alpha Radio).
The court, after examining all the evidence adduced by both the prosecution and the defence counsel, rejected the plea by the accused person and fined him 500 penalty units equivalent to GH¢ 6000 or in default, serve a three-month prison term.
The journalist was also made to go to the same platform(air) to rescind his comment and also signed a bond to be of good behaviour at all times.
Gratification
“I am exonerated. This is all that I wanted the court to do for me”, Shiekh Ridwan told the Daily Graphic reporter in a brief interview after the court proceedings.
“My FM station is open to everyone… be it a Muslim or a Christian”, he said and that radio was rather a platform to bring people together and not a tool to tarnish people’s hard-earned reputation.
He said all he needed was for the public and most important the Muslim community in Kumasi to disregard the ill comments made against him as they had been condemned by a court of competent jurisdiction.