Reports went rife yesterday evening about how some powers that be allegedly prevented tough-speaking Ghanaian journalist, Bridget Otoo from going on-air as the new anchor of Metro TV’s primetime news, ‘News Night’ despite being announced the day before.
Well, there was no concrete evidence to back these earlier speculations, but finally, it has been confirmed by none other than multiple award-winning Ghanaian investigative journalist, Manasseh Azure Awuni.
Not long ago, Manasseh took to his personal Facebook page to provide a vivid and blow by blow account of what happened when Bridget Otoo reported for work yesterday and how she was prevented from going on air by some ‘powerful people’
Read his full post below;
“WHAT HAPPENED TO BRIDGET OTOO AT METRO TV?
My sources have told me what happened when Metro TV announced that Bridget Otoo, who is outspoken on social media on issues of governance. This is what my sources within the organisation say:
1. Bridget Otoo was supposed to read the news yesterday. But as she was making up, there was enormous pressure to stop her from going on air.
2. The MD said he would not stop her, so a powerful man in the business stormed the station with a motorcade. Some “powers from above” were not happy that the outspoken lady was being asked to read the news. Bridget was stopped from going on air.
3. The chief instigator of the anti-Bridget Otoo agenda is a certain powerful man within Metro TV, who was sending negative screenshots about Bridget Otoo to management and some government officials.
4. Randy Abbey reportedly boycotted hosting Good morning Ghana today in protest against the treatment meted out to Bridget Otoo.
5. Following the bad press Metro TV has received, the man who stormed the station with the motorcade reportedly called Bridget Otoo and pleaded with her to return and that the “misunderstanding” was being resolved.
6. Bridget Otoo is currently at the station and is likely to read the News on Metro TV this evening. The nature of the resolution is not known to this writer.
7. Metro TV is owned by the Jospong Group of Companies, a business that depends mainly on government contracts and has been the subject of many corruption scandals. Some of these scandals are the GYEEDA Scandal, Subah Scandal, Waste Bins Scandal, Robbing the Assemblies Scandal.
8. In 2013, the World Bank blacklisted Zoomlion from bidding for government contracts. According to the World Bank, Zoomlion acknowledged “misconduct impacting the World Bank-financed the Emergency Monrovia Urban Sanitation Project in Liberia.”
“The company paid bribes to facilitate contract execution and processing of invoices,” the World Bank said in a press statement that is still on the website of the Bank.
9. It wasn’t a PR gimmick or publicity stunt. It’s a coup against free speech that courted so much bad press that the coup-makers retreated with their tails between their legs.”
