Wednesday October 19, 2021- Operatives of the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) picked up the morning show host of OnuaTV It was initially unclear why he had been picked up.
It later became clear that it was his pronouncement that the president Nana Akufo-Addo was complicit in illegal mining activities in Ghana.
“President said we are fighting galamsey, we exhausted four hundred and sixteen million in the fight with no result. The Presidency, the Jubilee house is involved in galamsey and you don’t want us to say it, me I will say it” Smart said.
The government through the information ministry threatened to seek ‘ legal action against Captain smart’
The government accused Mr. Smart of “unethical and irresponsible” journalism, adding that “the utterances is intended to court disaffection for government and undermine efforts to fight illegal mining.
”The government said it was concerned about the spread of disinformation and misinformation, “clothed under the pretext of journalistic discretion and free expression.”
The statement further said that Smart’s claims were baseless and “impugns the character and integrity of the President.
Yet Smart’s utterances would later be proven to be true in the Prof. Frimpong Boateng’s leaked report on galamsey, which stated that galamsey was rife in the backyard of the president of the republic.
Thursday, December 2, 2022— The Ghana Police service arrested Captain smart. This time he had been arrested for what they described as “unsavoury pronouncements that hinged on peace and security.”
Captain Smart said on his show that ‘Where we have reached, we require an uprising with positive defiance. I am even shocked at Ghana’s soldiers. You can enter Parliament when MPs are being sworn in, but when MPs are fooling, you can’t enter Parliament. Everybody is quiet in this country,”
This pronouncement received wide condemnation from the public. The National media commission asserted that Smart had called for a violent uprising against Ghana and its institutions,
” Part of your broadcast raises concern for the peace and security of the country in a manner that demands immediate regulatory action. We are particularly concerned about a recent broadcast in which “captain smart” calls for insurrection against the state of Ghana and its institutions”
“This is by all standard, crosses the line of robust and critical broadcasting and transforms your radio station into a megaphone of war”.
According to a statement from the Ghana Police Service, Mr. Smart was cautioned on the offence of offensive conduct conducive to breaches of the peace as provided under section 2017 of the Criminal Act, 1960 (Act 29).
June 3, 2023 — News broke that the finance minister Ken Ofori Atta had sued Captain Smart for defaming him. He’s praying the court to award him 10 million cedis in damages over Smart’s comments that the minister had received his 10% share of the $3 billion dollar bailout from the International monetary fund.
The Onua TV morning show host is purported to have said, “Are you aware that Ken Ofori-Atta has taken his 10% of the IMF money? [For] Every loan we take he takes 10%”.
Captain Smart has survived the arrests, threats of legal action and more but would he survive the current lawsuit brought forward by the finance minister?
Source: www.247newsgh.com