The respected investigative journalist, Manasseh Azure Awuni, responded strongly to Mr. Kofi Ofosu Nkansah, a member of the NPP after he questioned if he, Mr. Awuni has ever been silenced before.
Manasseh in a lengthy reply under his facebook post, mentioned several instances when his life was threatened due to, obviously, his investigative journalistic work during the previous NPP led administration.
Mr. Ofosu Nkasah’s questioning of the journalist was posted under the comment section of an earlier post he (Mr. Awuni) made on his Facebook wall.
“The “good men” they silenced while in government are the ones, they are now calling on to speak up while in opposition”. He stated in the Facebook post.
The former CEO of the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP) in the Akufo Addo-led past administration wrote this under Mr. Awuni’s post; “Dear Manasseh Awuni Azuri did anyone “silence” you?”
Mr. Awuni started by reminding the NPP politician of what he and other colleagues had to endure under the previous government.
“Sir there's a chapter in my book dedicated to what others and I endured. On two occasions, I left the country — first to South Africa and later to Germany. The National Security Ministry provided me police protection at a point, something I'd rejected in the Mahama era because I felt safe. I reported death threats to the police, but nothing came out of them”. Manasseh stated.
According to Manasseh, he and many others went through terrible life and death situations; most of which they were unable to voice out.
He also made it known to Mr. Ofosu Nkansah that, he does not feel threatened under the current Mahama led government.
Below is the full reply from Mr. Azure awuni to Mr. Nkansah;
“sir there's a chapter in my book dedicated to what others and I endured. On two occasions, I left the country — first to South Africa and later to Germany. The National Security Ministry provided me police protection at a point, something I'd rejected in the Mahama era because I felt safe. I reported death threats to the police, but nothing came out of them. And there are some I have not even spoken or written about. The mental torture is another angle. At some point, I started to see a clinical psychologist for therapy, and he suggested that I take a break. It was in preparation for that break that I applied to Harvard for a fellowship and the course I'm currently taking. It wasn't easy. And I'm not talking about only me. I have friends in civil society who told me how fearful they were of their lives. I know many journalists who were too scared to even speak about their ordeal. When people heard that I was writing a book about Akufo-Addo, the first thing many of them said was, "Are you not afraid?" I didn't hear that when I was writing a book about Mahama. Those who dared to speak endured a lot. It was real, sir.”
It should be recalled that Mr. Kofi Ofosu Nkansah was in 2024, arrested by the OSP over allegation of using fund from NEIP to sponsor his NPP parliamentary primary ambition in the Asante Akyem Central constituency in the Ashanti Region.
