I Won’t Waste Time On Empty Captain Smart – Mireku Duker Fires Back

..Says Deputy Minister

Deputy Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Goerge Mireku Duker, has said he will not waste time and resources to respond to some dubious and empty elements parading themselves on radio and television stations, whose agenda is to malign reputation of innocent people for peanut.

According to him, recent attacks on him and colleague government officials by Onua TV/FM presenter, Blessed Godsbrain Smart, also called Captain Smart, accusing him of being involved in illegal mining popularly known as galamsey, without providing a shred of evidence, only expose his motives and dubious character.

Describing the allegations as “false, baseless and treacherous”, the Tarkwa-Nsuaem lawmaker said even though this is not the first time Captain Smart is making such unfounded claims, he believes it is high time the unprofessional conduct of the presenter is nipped in the bud.

“I won’t waste my time on such dubious character. Captain Smart is an attention seeker. He has no integrity left in him and I won’t waste time on such a person” Mr Duker strongly retorted when contacted.

The MP mentioned that he is aware Captain Smart together with some other unscrupulous media men in a group are in cahoots with certain galamsey kingpins operating in the Western Region, working hard to tarnish his image and cause disaffection for him.

“This is baseless and treacherous. I know he is working for an Independence Parliamentary candidate in my constituency and Okoben, a known galamsey kingpin just to discredit me all because the election is around the corner,” said stressing that, he will not fall for those machinations.

The controversial presenter, who has gained notoriety in maligning mostly politicians, during a TV programme hosted by National Democratic Congress (NDC) National Communication Officer, Sammy Gyamfi, regarding issues of illegal mining activities claimed that he knows several ministers and government officials who are involved in the galansey business.

“I have said this before and I am repeating it…the Western Regional Minister is involved in galamsey, Mireku Duker is involved in galamsey, and the Axim Nzema East MCE is also involved. In fact, he even has a shop that sells galamsey equipment, including Changfang equipment. When your Changfang breaks down, you can buy spare parts and get it repaired. I have dared them for the past four months. I want them to go to court and they will see something,” he said in Twi.

According to Captain Smart, the officials of Minerals Commission and the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, are also involved in galamsey. He alleged that all the board members of the Commission are complicit in the illegal activity and challenged them to dispute his claims.

“The Minerals Commission and the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources are all involved in galamsey. I’ve said this over and over again and I want them to come and challenge me. Everyone at the Minerals Commission, from the highest-ranking officials to the lowest, is involved in galamsey,” he emphasized.

But according to the Deputy Minister, he will not dignify the presenter’s character assassination assignments because, this is not the time he is making those allegations.

He indicated that Godsbrain Smart sometime back on Monday, October 17, 2022 during his show, ‘Onua Maakye’ on Onua TV/FM, accused President Akufo-Addo of being actively involved in galamsey without any evidence to back his claims, therefore, there is no merit in responding to him.

According to the minister, if the same person could launch scathing attacks on the president and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, what can he not say or do about his appointees?

He believes it has become obvious that engaging in inciteful, reckless and unprofessional journalism is the stock-in-trade of Adom TV and Multimedia former presenter but urged relevance institutions to call the presenter to order.

NMC Warning

Recall that the National Media Commission (NMC) in 2023 strongly warned Captain Smart for insulting the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Vice Admiral Seth Amoama, and commanders of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF).

The NMC explained that Captain Smart described the CDS and commanders of the GAF as beasts, for embezzling funds meant for soldiers on peacekeeping operations.

According to the NMC, Captain Smart’s outbursts on his show are false and there is no evidence to back them. The Commission further shared that the presenter’s actions were unprofessional and treacherous.

Below Is the Published Full Statement:

FINAL CAUTION AGAINST INCITEFUL BROADCAST

Last week, your station carried an inciteful broadcast in which Captain Smart directly insulted the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) and other Commanders of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) as “beasts.” He claimed the officers embezzle monies meant for soldiers on peacekeeping operations but offered no evidence to back his claims.

This was as dangerous as it was unprofessional.

You may recall that on December 8, 2022, we drew your attention to the use of your station to promote violence against the state and your management’s lack of capacity to address same. This was after we had written to your management on December 2, 2022.

It is of concern to us that the behaviour persists after we drew the board’s attention. We are now compelled to come to the board again as a way of giving the company a last opportunity for internal gatekeeping.

We ask that you put in measures to stop the dangerous behaviour of the station and improve the station’s capacity for regulatory compliance. We also ask the station to withdraw the insults and apologise to the CDS and his commanders. We further ask the station to apologise to the Ghanaian public for the use of vulgar language.

We expect you to undertake the above and present evidence of same to us before November 19, 2023, after which date you may hear further from the Commission.

Yours faithfully

Source: Anchorghana.com