Assin Central MP, Kennedy Agyapong, has said in a recent interview that he never incited public violence against the slain journalist, Ahmed Suale.
In what many consider a revisionist attempt by the MP to recount his 2018 live telecast tirade against the journalist, Kennedy Agyapong said he only called on his TV station staff to beat Suale when he comes to their premises.
Kennedy Agyapong who is running for the flagbearership position in the governing New Patriotic Party made the claim in an interview with Umaru Sanda of Citi FM on Tuesday, August 15, 2023.
“I showed the video of Ahmed Suale. And when they saw it, my workers came to me and said “Honourable, don’t you know this guy? You even gave him GHS1,500 to pay his school fees” which I always do and I don’t even remember.
“Then I said to them, then you have to be careful. If this guy comes here, beat him up because he’s going to set this company up,” he narrated.
Asked whether he regrets his comment inciting violence against the journalist, the MP said no.
“Not that I want to be President and therefore I will come and tell you I didn’t say that, no. I said if he comes to my premises, beat him up. I didn’t say go and beat him outside. No,” Mr Agyapong said.
In another interview on TV3, the Assin Central MP made a similar claim of not inciting public violence against Ahmed Suale beyond calling his TV station staff to beat the journalist when comes into their space.
Fact-Check Ghana has verified the claims of the NPP flagbearer aspirant and present the details below.
Claim: “I said if he comes to my premises, beat him up. I didn’t say go and beat him outside. No.”
Verdict: Completely False
Explanation: Undercover investigative journalist, Ahmed Hussein-Suale, was murdered on January 16, 2019, after gunmen reportedly shot him three times in Madina, a suburb of Accra.
As an associate of renowned investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas, Suale is credited to have led many investigations by the Tiger Eye PI team.. Some of these investigations include Number 12, which exposed corruption in football administration in Africa.
In the lead-up to the screening of the Number 12 exposé, Kennedy Agyapong commenced a media campaign aimed at discrediting Ahmed Suale, Anas Aremeyaw Anas and the members of their team.
In one such campaign, on Wednesday, May 30, 2018, the Assin Central MP blew the cover of Ahmed Suale on his Accra-based TV station, Net 2, by showing the photos of the undercover journalist in a live telecast. He also showed an image he averred to be the photo of Anas Aremeyaw Anas, who has never revealed his identity in public. Many believe that Ahmed Suale was murdered because Kennedy Agyapong showed his face on TV.
On the May 30, 2018, broadcast which was carried live on the Facebook page of Net 2 TV, Kennedy Agyapong did not only incite violence against Ahmed Suale by the staff of the TV station, he called on the general public to attack the journalist and his colleague, Anas.
This incitement of public violence against the Suale happened on at least two occasions during the show. In fact, at one point, the show host cautioned the MP on inciting the public against the journalist. Kennedy Agyapong did not budge but affirmed that he will incite people against the journalists. (Here’s a link to the live streaming: https://web.facebook.com/Net2tvgh/videos/1007353932757134/).
Below is a transcript of the parts of the show where Kennedy Agyapong incited violence against the journalist. The parts of the show where the MP spoke Twi have been translated)
Kennedy Agyapong (38:20): Anas used Ahmed [Suale] and Rahman to set the judges up. That Ahmed, when he goes to Tamale, they really need to beat him. He’s a Dagomba boy.
Show Host: He pleads. You are inciting people against him.
Kennedy Agyapong: Oh yes! I will. I will incite people against Anas and his boys. Yes. They have committed atrocities and used foul means to enrich themselves.
***
Kennedy Agyapong (31:24): Anyway, let me tell you, there’s a boy called Ahmed [Suale]. When he comes close to anywhere near this premises, beat him, or else he will fix something here. That boy is very dangerous, he stays just here at Madina. When you meet him anywhere, smack him severally on his face. And if he comes to our premises, I say beat him, whatever comes up, I will pay. Show their pictures for us to watch
The footage from the Net 2 TV live streaming on Facebook on May 30, 2018, shows that Kennedy Agyapong’s claim that he didn’t call on people to beat the slain journalist, Ahmed Suale, outside his Net 2 TV premises is completely false.
