Is Kwabena Marfo of Peace FM a credible journalist worthy of service to Ghana and humanity?

Why are some Ghanaian journalists so unworthy of their calling and profession? Some of them are unethical. They are not objective and impartial in their reporting and news analyses. They have allowed political partisanship, either overt or covert, to cloud their intelligence and supposed rendering of impartial service to the nation and their fellow countrymen.

Today, Wednesday, 19 May 2021, I had the opportunity to listen to one Kwabena Marfo of Peace Fm hosting a programme with one Mac-Jerry Osei Agyemang on his Ghana Montie on NEAT 100.9 FM. His submissions on the war declared on exterminating or curtailing the devastating effect of the illegal surface and alluvial mining (galamsey) ongoing in Ghana, clearly exposed his malignity towards President Nana Akufo-Addo and his NPP government. From his sarcastic and insinuating submissions, one could clearly tell that he wishes the fight against galamsey to backfire in the face of the president and his government to culminate in their eventual defeat in any future general elections.

I wonder how a journalist worth his salt would wish a war declared on stopping an illegal galamsey activity wreaking havoc on the nation’s water bodies, fertile and arable lands and virgin forests, to fail. The way he was presenting his views, he was craftily inciting the NPP members and all those Ghanaian natives involved in the galamsey business who are currently the target aimed at to stopping the devastation being inflicted on the nation’s citizens’ sources of survival and sustainability, to turn against the government.

He must be ashamed of his infantile views and depiction of partisanship in the hope that people’s anger turn on President Nana Akufo-Addo in order to bring back the NDC sooner. He claims there is no job in the country for the youth. The country is hot, thus, there is no money in the system hence it is irresponsible for the government to seek to destroy the galamsey, the source of livelihood for many Ghanaian youths, he said. He is against the burning of the excavators, especially, those of the NPP Women’s Organiser in Eastern region.

One could really feel how in the end, after being notoriously verbose, ranting and raving, Kwabena Marfo had made a big fool of himself. When they got a Director of the mining company whose excavators had been burnt in the Eastern region on telephone to grant an interview, one could well establish or deduce that the company was mining within the stated sphere of river bodies where they are prohibited to operate, although he said, there are only small rivers around.

A river, whether big or small, is a river hence a source of life so it should not be destroyed to serve the selfish and insatiable greed of any myopic individuals.

The fight against galamsey should not stop or fail because of the parochial interests of ignoramuses and selfish individuals whose only desire is to acquire immense wealth no matter how their desire is realised. All that they care about is their riches whether it comes at the expense of the poor majority or not.

Kwabena Marfo should bow down his hat-concealed head in shame for exhibiting such level of malevolence and unholy partisan behaviour on air. Nobody cares which political party one supports but it will be silly on the part of any Ghanaian to stand obstructively in the path of any genuine method taken to rid the nation of an illegal activity that has the potential to destroy the nation and the people therein.

How I wish Ghanaian journalists would uphold the ethics of their profession to defend the collective interests of Ghanaians at all times rather than their selfish interests bordering on telling lies to acquire wealth.

Today, I am sparing Kwabena Marfo of the rod but next time, I will take him on mercilessly. Journalists are supposed to inform, educate and correct their listeners but not to misinform and incite them to take decisions that are not in the best collective interests of the nation but in its destruction.

Rockson Adofo

Wednesday, 19 May 2021