The Council’s spokesperson and Chairman of the Asafotufiami Festival Planning Committee, Nene Agudey Obichere III, announced the decision to lift the ban at a meeting of the ATC on July 22, 2024.

Radio Ada was banned in 2022, prohibiting coverage of the Asafotufiami Festival.

This was after the station had reported extensively on a salt mining concession granted to Electrochem Ghana Limited — a deeply divisive subject that is currently before the courts.

Though the radio station was in operation and covering other events, the ban prevented it from covering the prestigious Asafotufiami Festival for two years.

Nene Obichere III says the lifting of the ban is a reconciliatory gesture, emphasising the festival’s objective of healing and unity.

“Things cannot go on forever,” he told The Fourth Estate. “Radio Ada is back. We are happy they are back. Nobody was happy about that decision. Now it is time to [review] that decision and it has been done.”

Also at the meeting where the decision was announced were four influential traditional priests who are custodians of the Songhor Lagoon and other influential traditional power brokers, who had abstained from the festival in the last two years due to the controversies surrounding the Songhor Lagoon concession.

The priests perform an important role before, during and after the festival by pouring libation and performing other rituals.

They boycotted their traditional roles and sided with those who have been challenging the Electrochem lease.

The situation escalated on January 13, 2022, when armed men attacked Radio Ada’s premises, beat staff and vandalised equipment, an incident linked to their reportage on the lease agreement.

Radio Ada, MFWA react

Meanwhile, Radio Ada has welcomed the decision to lift the ban and allow them to cover the Asafotufiami Festival. The station’s Programme Officer, Gideon Amanor Dzeagu, expressed gratitude to the traditional authorities and reaffirmed the station’s commitment to community development and its watchdog role as enshrined in Ghana’s 1992 constitution.

“We are humans, and they are our fathers,” he told The Fourth Estate. “If they say we have wronged them and called to engage us to resolve it amicably, then we will use the platform to ask for their forgiveness. We are always ready to collaborate with them and serve the people as their mouthpiece, as we used to do,” he added.

The Media Foundation for West Africa has also applauded the decision.

“We hope this will mark the beginning of a new era of cooperation between the radio station and the traditional authorities in the interest of the development of the area,” the MFWA’s Manager for Freedom of Expression, Muheeb Saeed, said.

Dzigbordi Osabutey, a market woman and an ardent listener of Radio Ada, expressed excitement about the decision to lift the ban on the station.

She said as the community prepares for the 2024 Asafotufiami Festival, the reintegration of Radio Ada symbolises a step towards healing and fostering collaboration for the development of the Ada Traditional Area.

“For sometime now, if you don’t go to the festival, you won’t know what happened or how it went.

“You won’t even know there is festival unless you go there. We can’t do anything without Radio Ada, so we are very happy that they are back to do what they know how to do very well,” she said and added that the Radio Ada ban had taken a lot away from the festival.

The Asafotufiami Festival is a major cultural event in the Ada Traditional Area. It commemorates ancient wars and serves as a homecoming celebration for the Ada diaspora.

The ‘Asafotu’ are groups of warriors who fire their muskets and hoot at their enemies in celebration.

For decades, Radio Ada has played a pivotal role in broadcasting the festival’s activities since the station’s inception in 1998, making its exclusion in 2022 a significant issue.

In August 2022, The Fourth Estate reported that the Ada Traditional Council had barred Radio Ada from covering the Asafotufiami Festival for the use of “unrefined language.”

Following the publication, the Ghana Journalists Association, MFWA and other pro-media institutions after a fact-finding mission to Ada, described the ATC’s decision as an affront to media freedom.

Background of the ban

The tension between the ATC and Radio Ada began when the radio station, known for its critical coverage of local issues, notably the Songhor Lagoon lease agreement, was omitted from the media list invited to cover the 85th edition of the festival in 2022.

Despite Radio Ada’s efforts to rectify what it initially perceived as an oversight; the ATC confirmed that their exclusion was intentional.

In a letter dated August 1, 2022, the ATC placed restrictions on Radio Ada, prohibited the station from setting up a stage at the festival grounds and barred interviews with traditional leaders.

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It pointed out that the council’s decision undermined Article 21(1)(a) and (f) of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana and Article 19 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights.

“With all due respect, the Ada Traditional Council does not have the right or powers to impose such restrictions on Radio Ada and its staff,” it stressed.

At a press conference in Accra Thursday [August 11, 2022], the President of the GJA, Albert Kwabena Dwumfour, further said such action by the traditional leaders had the tendency to endanger the lives of the staff of the radio station.

The GJA President entreated the traditional leaders to use laid down channels for redress, instead of the path they had chosen, saying that barring the three hosts of Radio Ada from wearing the paraphernalia of the radio station and particularly mentioning their names were a threat to their lives and those of their families.

The press conference, held at the International Press Centre, was to state the GJA’s position on the impasse between the Ada traditional leaders and Radio Ada which has dragged since last June.

Present at the event were the General Secretary, the Organising Secretary of the GJA, Dominic Hlordzi; the Public Affairs Officer, Rebecca Ekpe, Kofi Yeboah and the Chairman of the Greater Accra Branch of the GJA, Charles Benoni Okine.

Incident

The press conference followed the traditional council’s ban on Ada Radio from providing coverage of the Asafotufiami Festival on August 1, after it had earlier banned the station from covering the launch of the festival held at Treasure Island in Ada on June 30, 2022.

The council took the decision because it alleged that three hosts of the station’s programmes, while on air, used unrefined language on chiefs in the area.

Mr Dwumfour said whatever differences existed between the traditional leaders and the radio station should be resolved through the laid down channels, instead of the use of authority, “which is also against the law”.

Fact-finding mission

Mr Dwumfour said the GJA’s fact-finding mission had established that people close to the council were worried about the use of “insulting” and “disrespectful” language by programme hosts of Radio Ada on traditional authorities.

The hosts were also cited for mentioning the names of Neneme (kingmakers) without according them their respective titles and also inciting the people to hoot at Neneme and call them names during a recent demonstration.

While the GJA President appreciated the concerns of Neneme, he believed the imposition of restrictions on the radio station and its reporters was unjustifiable.

“The GJA is interested in seeing peace restored between the Ada Traditional Council and Radio Ada,” he stressed.

Giving the sequence of events, Mr Dwumfour noted that since its establishment 24 years ago, Radio Ada had covered the Asafotufiami Festival every year.

However, this year’s event was different because, for the first time in its history, Radio Ada was denied its status at the celebration of the festival.

The blacklisting of the station, he explained, started with the council not inviting Radio Ada to cover the official launch of the festival at Treasure Island in Ada on June 30, 2022.

On July 14, 2022, the management of the station wrote a letter to the Ada Asafotufiami Planning Committee 2022 to draw its attention to what it believed to be the “inadvertent omission to the regular protocol of the planning committee”.

The management, in the morning of August 1, followed up on its letter with a delegation to meet the council to further discuss the matter.

According to officials of the station, the outcome of that meeting was positive.

“However, the council, later on that same August 1, followed up with a letter to the radio station, delivering its decision to place restrictions on Radio Ada,” he explained.

The restrictions, Mr Dwumfour said, were that “Radio Ada will not be allowed to mount a stage at Ada Asafotufiami Park; that Neneme will not grant interviews to journalists from Radio Ada, and that Noah Dameh, Serwah Warri and Amanor Dzeagu who were hosts of programmes and used unrefined language towards Neneme were not to be seen at the park in Radio Ada paraphernalia”.

NMC complaint, advice

While commending the council for taking steps to file complaints at the National Media Commission(NMC) against the alleged unprofessional conduct of the radio station, the GJA President wondered why the council violated the rules on complaint settlement of the NMC per the imposition of restrictions on the radio station and its reporters.

He further observed that “since the complaint by the council was still pending and had not been withdrawn, it had violated the NMC complaint settlement rule, as provided in Section 13(2) of the NMC Act, 1993 (Act 449), by constituting itself into a traditional court to punish the radio station and its staff”.

Protection

Mr Dwumfour advised the management of Radio Ada and its staff to refrain from using insulting or unacceptable language in the discharge of their duties.

He revealed that the Radio Ada issue had been discussed with the leadership of the Ghana Police Service to provide full protection for the staff of the station to enable them to go about their normal duties.

Other attacks

During an open forum, some media practitioners sought to know what the GJA was doing about the recent attack on Kofi Adoma Nwanwani, the Director of News at Angel Broadcasting Network and Founder of Kofi TV by unknown assailants.

The GJA President, in his response, said the association was already in consultation with the police on the matter to come up with the way forward based on facts of the matter.

The Council argues that its move against the media entity is not an affront to press freedom.

In a letter to the management of Radio Ada, the Council indicated that the station is not permitted to set up a live studio on the event grounds.

It added that the chiefs will not allow interviews with the media network and that three of its journalists are not permitted to cover the festival at all.

According to the Deputy Station Coordinator for Radio Network, Chiefs were upset that the media network was talking about the alleged sale of the Ada Songhor Salt lagoon.

“They have left the entire Lagoon that the people’s livelihood depends on to Daniel Mckorleys. It was agreement that they went in secretly and then we have been discussing the government document, the document they signed which went through Parliament.”

“We managed to get the document and was discussing it public to the people, the Chiefs came and said, we should not talk about the Lagoon lake anymore and then even if we should do that, the name of the Paramount Chief Nene, out of it, but we told them we can’t do that because it’s a document and we can’t read and then skip his name” Paul Dameh explained.

The head of the festival organizing committee, Nene Obikyereh, however, said that the decision was motivated by Radio Ada journalists’ ongoing criticism and crude language directed at the traditional council.

“They said unprintable words to the Chief which led the council to the decision. If you feel so strongly about an issue, it is not a problem but if you use a language that is unrefined about the Chief, what do you expect to happen?” he asked.

But President of the Ghana Network of Community Radio Stations, Selete Nyomi, referred to the action as a violation of press freedom.

“The festival itself is a public festival, why would you want to bar an indigenous station from covering? It is an upfront to press freedom,” Selete said.

“This is not about just the radio network but about the media as a whole, and I think this is the time that we expect the media to unite and condemn some of these things” he concluded.

Radio Ada, a community radio, is the mouthpiece of Ada. The station, which has covered the festival extensively for over two decades, was dismayed at the turn of events.

The management of the station, on July 14, 2022, thus wrote to the Ada Asafotufiami Festival Planning Committee to draw attention to the fact that the letter inviting media houses to the launch of the festival on July 30, 2022, did not mention Radio Ada.

“The management of Radio Ada extends cordial and respectful greetings to the Ada Asafotufiami Planning Committee, 2022, and wishes to draw its attention to what we have taken to be an inadvertent omission in the regular protocol of the Planning Committee.

“We are referring in particular to the omission of Radio Ada from the list of invited media houses at the official launch on 30th June 2022 at Treasure Island, Ada, of the 2022 Ada Asafotufiami Festival.  We only came to learn of the launch from other media.  It is regrettable that Radio Ada was omitted,” the letter said.

The station’s management noted that even this year’s festival was officially announced on Radio Ada on May 9, 2022, by the Senior War Captain of Kabiawe Yumu, Asafoatsengua Owusie Senakey IV, alongside a warlord of the Kabiawe Clan, Asafoatse Otumfuor IV, and Nagodey Baflo, who is with the priest of the Lomobiawe Clan.

The station said it repeatedly publicised the launch event which was recorded at no cost to anyone.

Historically, the Asafotufiami is a remembrance of ancient wars with neighboring ethinic groups such as the Ewe. The “Asafotu” are companies of warriors who fire their muskets in celebration. These days, the festival is a grand homecoming for the Ada diaspora.

“It is once again regrettable that Radio Ada cannot give first-hand updates on the 2022 Asafotufiami Festival to the Ada state because it had been inadvertently omitted from the invitation list. We trust that this omission will be rectified,” the letter concluded.

In response to the management, the Asafotufiami Festival Planning Committee was unequivocal that it was not an inadvertent omission.

In a letter dated August 1, 2022, the committee said, “The Traditional Council at a meeting held on 1st August, 2022, discussed your letter and decided to invite your station to the Traditional Council for an extensive discussion after the festival.

“In the meantime, I am directed to inform you that the Traditional Council has deemed it necessary to place the following restrictions on Radio Ada during this year’s Asafotufiami festival” the letter signed by the Chairman of the Asafotufiami Festival Planning Committee, Nene Agudey Obichere III, said.

The letter mentioned three restrictions as follows:

1. Radio Ada will not be allowed to mount a stage at Ada Asafotufiami Park.
2. Neneme [chiefs] will not grant interviews to journalists from Radio Ada.
3. Noah Dameh, Serwah Warri and Amanor Dzeagu who happen to be hosts of programs with unrefined language towards Neneme are not to be seen at the park in Radio Ada paraphernalia.

The letter further urged Radio Ada to respect the above restrictions to avoid embarrassment.

Radio Ada’s response to the ban

In an interview with The Fourth Estate, the Deputy Station Coordinator of Radio Ada, Mr. Noah Narh Dameh, alleged that the Traditional Council’s action which will curtail residents’ right to access information about the festival, is a strategy to punish the media house for continuously discussing the controversial Songhor Lagoon lease arrangement.

“I’ll attribute this to the Songhor lease that has been given to Dr. Daniel Mckorley [McDan] and series of programs that we have been doing to throw more light on the lease document,” he said.

He further alleged that, before this restriction was placed on them, some representatives of the traditional council visited the radio station and cautioned them to stop discussing the Songhor lease agreement.

“They [Traditional Council] went ahead to say that, even if we will discuss the [Songhor Lease] document at all, we should never mention the name of the Paramount Chief of Ada, Nene Abram Kabu Akuaku III. But we told them that, we’re discussing a document that’s coming from the government, and so if we see the name of the Paramount Chief, we cannot skip it because it won’t make the statement complete. These things happened before the Radio Station was attacked and the thugs also left the same message that we should not do any programme on the Songhor Lagoon else the attack would be worse,” he said.

In backing his claim that the ban had everything to do with the Radio station’s discussion of the Songhor Lease Agreement, he pointed out the fact that the letter from the Asafotufiami Planning Committee singled out the three lead producers of “Manor Munyu”, a program on Radio Ada that talks about the Songhor Lagoon Lease and other developmental issues.

“We have been producing a programme on the Songhor Lagoon, and we’re four in number, but they singled out one person and placed a restriction on the three of us. So, although they have not come out directly to explain why they’re restricting us, I believe, and the community people are also aware that they did that because of the Songhor Lagoon program we have been doing, “he said.

He particularly mentioned that some five chiefs in the Ada state are not happy with the Radio station’s programme about the Songhor Lagoon hence the restriction. He said residents of the Ada community felt threatened because some police personnel were being used to intimidate people who spoke against the Songhor Lagoon Lease agreement.

In response to the claim in the letter that the three radio hosts who had been singled out were notorious for using “unrefined language” against traditional authorities, the deputy station coordinator dared the traditional council to provide evidence in that regard.

“We have produced about 45 episodes of the program on the lease agreement and they were all prerecorded, and so if they say we’ve insulted them, they should come out and prove it because the recordings are there.”

Mr. Dameh justified Radio Ada’s advocacy on the Songhor Lease Agreement, stating that the lagoon, which has been released to a sole investor, Dr. Daniel Mckorley, will affect the livelihoods of over 150,000 people since the community has lived on salt production for centuries.

“We’re just making public documents public, that’s all that the radio programme is doing, so I don’t know why they have issues with that if indeed the lease agreement is in the interest of the people,” he noted.

According to him, the planning committee for the festival had allocated the area where Radio Ada used to mount its stage to cover the Asafotufiami Durbar to a new radio Station called Eagle FM, which he said was owned by Dr. Daniel Mckorley, CEO of McDan Group.  Electrochem, the salt-producing company, is one of its subsidiaries.

An attempt by The Fourth Estate to engage the Chairman of the Asafotufiami Planning Committee and the Spokesperson for the Ada Traditional Council, Nene Agudey Obichere III, has been unsuccessful.

He declined an interview with the excuse that he was busy with the activities of the festival.

Deputy Station Coordinator of the radio station, Noah Dameh, said thugs, numbering about eight, one armed with a pistol, on Wednesday, entered the studio and forcefully destroyed the doorways and invaded the on-air studio.

Mr Dameh said the gang thereafter beat up a presenter, Gabriel Adjawutor, and vandalised the on-air studio gear – the console, microphones, and others.

The group, he added, held two Radio Ada workers, along with guests at the station at the time of the incident, hostage for a number of minutes.

The station has since lodged a complaint at the Big Ada Police Station and the Police have visited the Studio to take inventory of the broken items.

The Deputy Station Coordinator added that the presenter, who was overwhelmed by the happening, has since been dispatched to the Ada East District Hospital for therapy and discharge.

Mr Dameh condemned the unorthodox technique of searching for redress.

“Let’s engage and use the right means to address our problems in society,” he said urging the Ada residents to desist from actions that will threaten the peace of the world.

“Our listening community is assured that Radio Ada will thereafter continue to broadcast and that its commitment to inform and to give voice to the Dangme community, particularly those least voiced, remains unchanged,” he noted.

According to her, her constituents including staff of the radio station are living in fear following the attack.

The Ada-based radio station has been shut down after some hoodlums attacked staff and vandalized the place.

It is alleged that the attack is due to the station’s extensive coverage of issues surrounding the Songor Lagoon – an allegation Electrochem Ghana Limited, the company contracted to mine salt in the Songor Lagoon has vehemently denied.

But Hon Doyoe Cudjoe-Ghansah in an interview on JoyNews said the development has affected Ghana’s democratic credential.

“It is a pity that as a nation we are not able to protect our journalists who provide us with information,” she stated.

The Ada MP said the attack is a dent on President Akufo-Addo’s record as an astute human rights lawyer.

To remedy the situation, she urged him to put measures in place to ensure the safety of journalists in the country.

“I am calling on the President as a Human Rights Lawyer to speak up and make sure he protects our vulnerable journalists. It is bad news for Ada,” she said.

Hon Doyoe Cudjoe-Ghansah also sympathized with the Radio station as well as journalists who have been attacked in their line of work.

According to the Corporate Communications and Public Relations Manager of Electrochem Ghana Limited, Henking Adjase-Kodjo, the company has no hand in the incident.

Speaking in an interview played on Joy FM‘s Midday News, he, nonetheless, described the attack on the community radio station as unfortunate.

“It’s news to me same as it is to you. I read it on social media a few minutes ago. Electrochem has no interest in this development. Actually, it is rather unfortunate. It is bad news to us but we have no direct or indirect link to the development,” said Henking Adjase-Kodjo.

His assertion comes after Management of Radio Ada, 93.3 FM said they were attacked because of their extensive coverage of issues surrounding the Songor Lagoon.

The radio station, in a press statement that presented facts of the attack, said one of the hoodlums, revealed to them that they were targeted for throwing light on recent developments on the Songor Lagoon.

“The attackers openly declared that they had come to vandalise the station because of its ‘Manor Munyu’ and other programmes that discussed the recent developments in Songor. They threatened to inflict further havoc should the station continue with programmes on Songor,” the Management of the radio station stated.

Also, the Deputy Station Manager of the company, Noah Dameh, disclosed that the station’s broadcast on the project, which has been leased to Electrochem Ghana Limited has become a story of concern to the indigenes.

He told JoyNews that some staff and clients were assaulted during the raid.

“We have been producing programmes on the Songor Lagoon that has been leased to Electrochem. We have been serialising the documents of the lease agreement, the MOA etc. So we think that was why they are looking for us. Before they left, they said we should stop broadcasting materials on the Songor Lagoon, that was the warning that they gave us,” he said.

He indicated that they are waiting on the Police to act.

The Foundation has demanded an immediate investigation and prosecution of perpetrators.

A group of thugs numbering about 12 on January 13, 2022, stormed the premises of the community radio station, assaulted two of its journalists and vandalised equipment.

A journalist at Radio Ada who is also the External Communications Officer of the media house, Julius Odoi, told the MFWA that the hoodlums invaded the station at around 11:45 am after a drinking binge at a nearby drinking bar.

They demanded to see the Manager and when told by the security guards that he was not available, the intruders forcibly entered the building. They broke the studio door and caused mayhem.

According to Odoi, the thugs ordered Gabriel Korley Adjaotor, who was presenting a music programme, to stop his presentation.

“Before the presenter could react, they disconnected cables, smashed computers and attacked the console and microphones, disrupting the broadcast in the process,” Odoi told the MFWA in a telephone conversation.

After upsetting the studio, the thugs assaulted the presenter amidst warnings to the station to stop its Manor Munyu programme, a regular feature that discusses the state of the salt mining industry, the mainstay of the Ada economy.

The invaders who had come carrying bottles of alcohol, also forced another journalist, Gideon Amanor Dzeagu, to kneel for several minutes while they proceeded to turn the whole premises into a mess by breaking their bottles and littering the place with alcohol and shards.

The Ada Songhor programme is highly critical of the operations of Electrochem, the firm accorded the rights to mine salt in the Songhor Lagoon. Electrochem has in the past had to write to the Management of the radio station to complain about alleged misrepresentations about its operations and demand an apology. There is, however, no indication that the attackers are linked to the salt mining firm.

Meanwhile, the presenter, Gabriel Korley Adjaotor, is said to be responding to treatment, having been rushed to the District Hospital for attention.

The Ada District Police Commander, DSP Andreas Mifetu, confirmed to the MFWA in a telephone chat that his outfit issued a medical form to the presenter after the station reported the assault.

The Police chief also confirmed that a team of officers have been dispatched to the premises of Radio Ada to verify the incident, as part of investigations.

The management of the radio station, in a statement, has announced that the station will shut down for a few days to enable it to review and repair the extent of the damage caused.

Radio Ada has a reputation for critical reports which hold the powerful to account. On August 2, 2018, the police stormed the station in search of one of its radio presenters, Joseph Korletey Korley, popularly known as DJ Koxterio. The journalist had angered the chiefs of the traditional area by demanding that they account for the funds raised at the annual cultural festival, Asafotufiami.

The MFWA vigorously condemns this shameful attack on Radio Ada and its staff by the cowardly hoodlums. It is a vicious attack that seeks to silence the media house and instil fear in journalists.

We are confident that the station and its staff will continue to stand firm in service to the public and demand that the authorities take measures to provide them the needed protection. We urge the police to conduct thorough investigations into the incident and bring the perpetrators to book.

Speaking on JoyFM’s Super Morning Show on Friday, the Ada District Police Commander, DSP Andreas Kordzo Mifetu stated that although investigations have begun, no arrests have been made yet.

“We will appeal to the people of Ada that the police will need their cooperation and their assistance in bringing closure to this.

“Because the incident happened in broad daylight and people might have seen them, they might have identified them. So we are appealing that anyone with information about the identity of these people to contact the police for arrests to be made,” he added.

The management of Radio Ada 93.3 FM on Thursday, January 13, 2022, stated that some unidentified thugs attacked the station.

They suspect the attack was due to the extensive coverage on the Songor Lagoon issues.

In a press statement to present the facts, they stated that one of the hoodlums who had attacked them had revealed to them that they were targeted for throwing light on recent development on the Songor Lagoon.

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As a result of the attack, the station has temporarily been shut down, effective Friday, January 14, 2022, due to their equipment and other properties being vandalised.

Management also indicated that some presenters sustained injuries in the process.

DSP Kordzo confirmed the incident and stated that a presenter from the station on Thursday, January 13, 2022, reported the incident at the big Ada police station.

He further stated that “we have processed the things we are in the process of conducting investigations to identify those responsible and get them arrested and the necessary actions will be taken against them,” he said.

This follows an attack on the premises of the community radio station on Thursday, January 13, 2022.

According to reports, thugs numbering about 10, destroyed equipment and furniture in some of the station’s offices.

The attackers also manhandled two staff members over the content aired on one of the station’s programmes.

“The attackers, one of whom was armed with a pistol, invaded the on-air studio by forcibly destroying its door. They beat up the presenter and vandalised the on-air studio equipment, leading to the temporary shut-down of Radio Ada,” the Management of the station added in a press statement.

Giving further details, Management said during the havoc that ensued, two staff of the station were held, hostage.

Again, one of the hoodlums who had invaded the station revealed that the attack was due to a decision by the station to throw more light on recent developments on the Songor Lagoon, hence further discussions will lead to more attacks.

“The attackers openly declared that they had come to vandalise the station because of its Manor Munyu and other programmes discussing the recent developments in Songor. They threatened to inflict further havoc should the station continue with programmes on Songor,” the statement stressed.

In view of this, the radio station has reported the incident to the Big Ada Police Command for further investigation to be carried out.

This will also give the station more time to review and repair the damages caused.

“This announcement, interspersed with music, will be the only broadcast that Radio Ada will be making today,” the station stated.

In a press statement to present the facts of their attack, they stated that one of the hoodlums who had attacked them had revealed to them that they were targeted for throwing light on recent development on the Songor Lagoon.

“The attackers openly declared that they had come to vandalise the station because of its Manor Munyu and other programmes discussing the recent developments in Songor. They threatened to inflict further havoc should the station continue with programmes on Songor,” the Management of the radio station stated.

On Thursday, January 13, Radio Ada 93.3 FM was raided by 8 hoodlums at about 11:30 am.

“The attackers, one of whom was armed with a pistol, invaded the on-air studio by forcibly destroying its door. They beat up the presenter and vandalised the on-air studio equipment, leading to the temporary shut-down of Radio Ada,” the station recounted.

During the havoc that ensued, two staff of the station were held hostage.

According to Management, the attack has been reported to the Big Ada police for further investigation to be carried out.

The incident has also been reported to the National Media Commission.

Meanwhile, the presenter who was assaulted has since been sent to the Ada East District Hospital for treatment.

The Management further mentioned that in the wake of the attack, the radio station will be shut down for a few days, starting Friday January 14, to enable it review and repair the damage caused.

“This announcement is being made to ensure that the facts of the attack are reported accurately and timeously. This announcement, interspersed with music, will be the only broadcast that Radio Ada will be making today,” the station stated.

Management of Radio Ada stated that it remains unfazed by the attack and will continue “to inform and to give voice to the Dangme community, particularly those least heard.”