Patience Asiedua aka Agradaa
The Circuit Court in Accra presided over by His Honour Emmanuel Essandor yesterday granted a GH¢500,000 self-recognizance bail to Patience Asiedua, the fetish priestess who goes by the popular name Agradaa, after she was arrested for alleged fraud.
The judge also ordered her to deposit her passport at the registry of the court as part of the bail conditions.
She pleaded not guilty to the charge of fraud and will appear in court again on May 12, 2021.
Court Drama
Agradaa was immediately re-arrested by the police after she was granted bail in relation to another case.
She was then captured in a video recording saying, “Everything is alright. I have finished with this case and I’m going into another case. They said Obofuor claims I have insulted him so he has filed a case against me and I’m going to face him on that one.”
Overnight Detention
Agradaa spent Wednesday night in jail after being arrested for fraud.
Her Thunder and Ice1 television stations, both transmitting signals from their Kasoa base in the Central Region without license from the licensing authority, as well as 47 other networks, were all shut down by the National Communications Authority (NCA).
Agradaa has been using her Thunder TV, in particular, to advertise ‘Sika Gari’, a supposed money-multiplying ritual intervention, which she describes as her personal god and advertises lavishly.
More Cases
DAILY GUIDE police sources said a number of people have come forward claiming Okomfo or Nana Agradaa, as she is often referred to, duped them and have subsequently filed official complaints against her.
The fraud charges pressed against her were lodged in different police stations across the country, and in all the complaints filed, they mentioned ‘Sika Gari’ as the reason for being defrauded.
A video has popped up showing the controversial Agradaa defending her ‘Sika Gari’ rituals, giving reasons she dupes those who want to be rich overnight and makes her hoodlums attack such people when they try to prove stubborn.
Agradaa, in a cynical fashion, tried to quote from the Bible by saying that the “Holy Book even says that a fool will sweep his home and bring the money to the wise one.”
She then said spiritual matters cannot be proven in court and appeared to speak with impunity.
Main Arrest
Police officers and National Security Intelligence operatives in collaboration with officials of the NCA on Wednesday arrested Agradaa and shut down two television stations belonging to her.
During the operation, agents seized two equipment, which were said to be used in the illegal transmissions.
In the aftermath of the murder of 11-year-old Ishmael Mensah Abdallah by two Kasoa teenagers, one of whom claimed to have fallen for a television advertisement about a money-multiplying ritual, there has been an unbridled public outcry against channels undertaking such commercials.
The television space is choked with all manner of commercials promoting assortment of spiritual interventions, some of them putting morality on the line.
In the heat of the public outcry, many lashed at the relevant regulatory authorities for their seeming apathy as the television stations flourished with their undesirable contents.
That some of the stations even operated illegally, adds to the puzzlement of members of the public who want to know why there had been such a delay in clamping down upon the illegality.
Major Crackdown
Apart from Agradaa’s Thunder TV and Ice 1, forty-seven television channels accused of operating without authorisations were closed down by the NCA on Wednesday.
They are Dove TV, 2 NTV, Power TV, Maranatha TV, Chief TV, Kiss TV, Sagani TV, Ogyaba TV, Nazareth TV, CACI TV, Ahotosour TV, BOC TV, OK TV, Cash TV, Lion TV, Obour TV, TV Universe, Apinto TV, and Akwasi Awuah TV.
Others are Eno TV, Apple TV, SBN TV, Agya Kofabae TV, Next TV, Face TV, Paradise TV, SBN International, Adzipa TV, Ezra TV, Truth TV, Royal Starr TV, Virgin TV, Days TV, Serwaa TV, Iron TV, JA1 TV, Abapa TV, Asempa TV, BTV Bempah TV, Kwaku Bonsam TV, Asomdwie TV, TV Magic Gyamfi, Channel 45, Perfect TV, and Anima TV.
NCA Explanation
The NCA explained in a statement that the operation formed part of a continuous monitoring exercise conducted on various satellite free-to-air television platforms using the Broadcast Monitoring System (BMS) and the Radio Spectrum Monitoring System (RSMS).
It said its monitoring revealed that some channels were operating without valid authorisations, contrary to Section 2(4) of the Electronic Communications Act 775 of 2008, which states that, “Except as provided by this Act or any other law not inconsistent with this Act, a person shall not operate a broadcasting system or provide a broadcasting service without a frequency authorisation by the Authority.”
“The NCA will continue monitoring to ensure that the use of spectrum is done in an efficient manner. We also take the opportunity to caution all licence and authorisation holders to ensure that their licences and authorisations are always up-to-date and in compliance with the stated terms and conditions,” the authority said.
By Ernest Kofi Adu