President John Mahama and Salifu Maase aka Mugabe
There seems to be some love lost between the famous Montie 3 – Salifu Maase, Godwin Ako Gunn and Alistair Nelson – and their beloved party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
It is evident in an outburst by one of the three former convicts, Salifu Maase popularly known as Mugabe, who vented his frustration on the party which he had sworn to defend with his blood.
He admitted that his listeners were expecting him to go all out to attack the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) presidential candidate, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. Mugabe, who is the host of Accra-based Montie FM’s ‘Pampaso’ afternoon political programme, has turned the heat on the NDC, expressing deep-seated anger.
Apart from the fact that he and his colleagues are in the employ of Montie radio and TV Gold, Mugabe feels neglected, in spite of all the sacrifices he claims he and his colleagues had made for the party. He also complained bitterly that the NDC as a party does not give the stations adverts.
Instead, he says the adverts are given to other media houses he considers anti-government and that the party dashes luxurious vehicles to “some so-called senior journalists.”
Concerns
Speaking on his ‘Pampaso’ show on Wednesday, Mugabe said, “We can’t be working like bulldogs while others are just enjoying themselves, never!…excuse me to say some of us are not fools; we won’t come and sit here and work our hearts out for others to reap where they have not sown because we are tired working for the NDC.”
He said sometimes they work three days without bathing.
“All they want to see is that whenever they tune in to Montie at 2pm and the station is running; no adverts, TV Gold, no advert from your side; instead you will go and give it to them [other media houses] and they continue to insult you,” he noted.
Aside that, an obviously disappointed Mugabe indicated, “They continue to buy big cars for those so-called senior journalists and when they ride in them, they continue to insult you; when power slips from their hands, that’s when they will learn the hard way……….”
He said he is ready to cross carpet but for the advice of people like Ato Ahwoi.
“The elections will come and we will cover for you to see; when the time comes, they should call those they have been giving the adverts to, to come and do the coverage for them. If we talk and they don’t listen, we play sounds for them to hear,” he threatened in a fit of anger, while asking rhetorically, “How long must feverish birds tremble in silence?”
Pain
According to him, “Montie FM is not a charity organization; Radio Gold is not a charity organization and TV Gold is also not a charity organization. Ask yourself how much airtime costs. Meanwhile, we work like donkeys, sometimes staying here to work for three days without taking our baths or going home.”
Mugabe continued, “When we talk and they don’t listen they should bear in mind that we have 41 days to elections; they will wake up one day and expect that Mugabe will come and host ‘Pampaso’ but they won’t see me again. I’m telling you today.”
Life & Death
“The work we do is about life and death; you the minister, when they bring you to come and do it, you can’t do it; same goes to the other government appointees. You can’t do it…we can’t toil for others to come and reap the benefits of our sweat; I can’t fathom it,” the ‘Pampaso’ host expressed.
According to him, “Some people are going round saying Mugabe, Ako Gunn and Co [Montie 3] have been compensated. No one has given me a dime; nobody has given us anything.” He warned, “Nobody should go and stand somewhere and say we have bought them houses, we have bought them vehicles, we have compensated them. Nothing!”
Instead, the frustrated radio host said, “It is the love we have for John Mahama…if not, I would have left the job after my return from the Nsawam Prison! But for people like Uncle Ato Ahwoi, Baffoe-Bonnie, our mother Lordina Mahama, Chief of Staff and some elders, I would have left long ago.”
For him, “It is merely out of respect that some of us have still come to sit here; because nothing should have made us to come back to this place after what we went through.”
By Charles Takyi-Boadu