By Adnan Adams Mohammed
The political landscape in the Awutu Senya East Constituency has reached a boiling point following a fiery standoff between regional leadership of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and Kasoa-based private media outlet, Obaatanpa Radio.
The friction culminated in a staggering GH¢10 million defamation lawsuit slapped against the station by the NDC Central Regional Chairman, Dr. Richard Asiedu. The legal action follows accusations that the station’s morning show host repeatedly broadcasted false and malicious claims targeting his leadership and intentionally fueling internal party factions.
The controversy erupted during a recent broadcast of the station’s morning political program, Ghana Nkosuo, hosted by Kofi Kyei Baffuor. During the show, Baffuor explicitly criticized Dr. Asiedu, blaming him directly for failing to manage rising divisions and bitter infighting among rival NDC factions within the Awutu Senya East enclave.
The commentary, which subsequently circulated heavily on TikTok, drew swift condemnation from party executives who described it as a coordinated attempt to destabilize the party’s regional unity.
Dr. Asiedu firmly rejected the broadcasted narrative, characterizing it as a deliberate campaign of malinformation. Speaking out on the matter, the Regional Chairman clarified his intentions:
“I travelled all the way from Cape Coast to Kasoa only to seek healthy discussions over the station’s persistent, false reportage about the NDC in the Awutu Senya East Constituency. We cannot sit by and allow deliberate malinformation to destroy the fabric of our party unity.”
The Standoff and Conflicting Accounts
The dispute escalated physically when Dr. Asiedu, accompanied by the Awutu Senya East Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Seth Sabah Serwonoo-Banini, and local party supporters, visited the Obaatanpa Radio premises to confront the management.
Station producer Bernard Mireku Nyanpong alleged that the encounter turned hostile, claiming that the NDC delegation aggressively confronted staff, locked up the station, and forced them off the air for nearly three hours. Nyanpong has since filed an official complaint with the Central East Regional Police Command.
However, Dr. Asiedu vehemently denied any allegations of physical assault or unlawful closure, attributing the escalation purely to the hostile demeanor of the station’s staff.
“I am not an MCE to close down a radio station, so it’s not true that we locked it up,” Dr. Asiedu stated defensively in a media interview. “We went there for accountability, but we were met with extreme hostility.”
Clearing the Air on “Misunderstandings”
Supporters of the Regional Chairman maintain that the incident is being heavily twisted by political opponents to paint the NDC leadership as anti-press. They insist that standing firm against broadcasted falsehoods is a legitimate defense of political integrity, not an attack on media freedom.
With a GH¢10 million suit now active in the High Court, Dr. Asiedu has signaled that he prefers to let the judiciary handle the “Awutu Senya East misunderstanding” rather than allowing media-driven narratives to dictate party dynamics.
Local authorities have urged calm among party faithful and media workers in Kasoa as police continue their independent investigations into the physical altercation at the station premises.
