"SHATTA WALE IS A PHOTOCOPY OF ME"

The Ghanaian rapper who calls himself 'insane', has taken a swipe at fellow artiste Shatta Wale, saying he is an imitation of him suggesting the latter should not be taken seriously.

Kwaw Kese who is back with a sick brand new track titled ‘Ruff’ said he is the real king of the streets and should be respected as such.

The king of ‘madness’ has always had issues with self-acclaimed dancehall king, Shatta Wale and is on record for having said the controversial 'newcomer had no clout to call himself 'King' in his turf.

Speaking on the STARR DRIVE with Bola Ray on Starr 103.5fm on Wednesday the Óye Nonsense' star reiterate his position on Shatta Wale's claims and said there could be only one king of the streets, "ME".

“Shatta Wale is just a photocopy of me…there is nothing original about him,” he said.

The track that chronicle’s Abodam’s life has many lyrical twists that will get listeners paying attention to every bit of it.

Kwaw Kese said he made the track as a tribute to his fans, “My fans always say they feel me rough, so this is a new track for them.”

His just released song, 'Ruff’ received its first radio play on the show.

FIPAG, MULTI TV AGREE TO ORGANIZE GHANA FILM AWARDS AND FESTIVAL

Film Producers Association of Ghana, FIPAG and Multi TV, Ghana’s first truly nationwide free-to-air multi-channel digital Television service have signed an agreement to organize Ghana Film Awards and Festival.

The two came into consensus to organize the awards on Tuesday, September 23 at Multi TV head office at Kokomlemle in Accra.

FIPAG PRO, Michael Kwaku Ola who disclosed this information to Zionfelix.com stated that “by this, we have given them the right to organize Ghana Film Awards and Festival on behalf of stakeholders in the movie industry."

He added that the event will be held with the help of actors and directors guild in the country.

The Managing Director of Multi TV, Santokh Singh together with Esinam Donkor and Nana Yaa Donkor, signed the memorandum of understanding with FIPAG President Mr. Steve Asare Hackman, Eugene Moratt, James Aboagye and Michael Kwaku Ola.

The week-long Ghana Film Awards and Festival will be launched in November this year.

CARLOS SAKYI RUNS TO POLICE OVER LIFE THREATS

The embattled former Chairman of the Ghana Music Rights Organisation (GHAMRO), Carlos Sakyi, has reported to the Police that some faceless individuals have threatened him with death.

Carlos told Showbiz last Tuesday that although he was concerned for his safety, he was not intimidated by any individual or group of persons to stop him from working to improve the lives of music rights owners.

“Why would anyone want to take my life simply because he does not agree with me over an issue?

Earlier this year, an Accra High Court ordered the board of the Ghana Music Right Organisation (GHAMRO) headed by Carlos Sakyi, to step aside. The ruling followed an action by Nana Kwame Ampadu and the 99 musicians, composers, songwriters, music producers and music rights owners accusing Carlos Sakyi, Chairman of GHAMRO, of embezzling funds collected on behalf of music rights owners in Ghana.

“The issue is currently before court so why can’t everyone let the matter exhaust itself at the courts instead of resorting to death threats?” Carlos said to this reporter.

He disclosed that he began receiving the threatening phone calls and messages on July 25, 2014, some hours after an Accra High Court presided over by His Lordship Justice Kofi Essel-Mensah adjourned the GHAMRO court hearing to October 30, 2014.

He added that besides threatening text messages, he had been receiving phone calls from anonymous numbers and callers who would refuse to identify themselves but simply breathe heavily on the line before disconnecting the call.

He believes the people responsible for the threats against his life were disappointed that the judge adjourned the GHAMRO court case instead of giving a ruling; hence, they felt they had to find other avenues to get him to excuse himself from the matter.

Carlos Sakyi remarked that he believes out of all the members of the board of GHAMRO, he is being singled out for victimisation. “There have been so many distortions and lies about me in the media which I believe are deliberate attempts to discredit me in the eyes of the public.

He said that his outfit would be heading to the Appeals Court to ask the court to set aside the ruling of the Accra High Court.

ASAMOAH GYAN FAMILY PRESS CONFERENCE...READ THE FULL STATEMENT

Black Star’s Captain, Asamoah Gyan, with his brother Baffour Gyan and his family, has declared the air about wild rumours that they have a hand in the unfortunate disappearance of hiplife artiste, Theophilus Tagoe, popularly known as Castro.

The Family spoke through its lawyer Kissi Agyabeng, who addressed a press conference on Wednesday 24th September 2014 at the Alisa Hotel.

Below is the full text of the statement read out by Lawyer Kissi Agyabeng:

Good Afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press.
If you take a close look at the Daily Graphic, you will see at the top right corner the words – “Truth and Accuracy Every Day.” We take inspiration from these beautiful words and make them the foundation of this press meeting.

I will address you on the disappearance of Castro and Janet Bandu, the allegations and rumours thereafter, the Daniel Kenu affair, and the Gyan brothers and media relations in that order.

The Disappearance of Castro and Janet Bandu
On Friday 4 July 2014, Asamoah Gyan, the captain of the national football team (the Black Stars), his elder brother Baffour Gyan (a former Black Stars player), and some of their close friends and associates, checked into Aqua Safari Resort at Ada for a weekend vacation.

The core team included the boxer, Emmanuel Tagoe, alias Game Boy and his sister Naa, Theophilus Tagoe, the hiplife star known as Castro (who joined the team at the eleventh hour), Alberta Tetteh (Anim Addo’s associate who brought along two female friends, Nana Akua Ayisi and Janet Bandu), Benjamin Owusu Ansah, Dauda Tetteh, Patrick Botchway, Akwasi Bonsu, Kwabena Boateng, Joseph Kissi, Seth Tetteh, DJ George, and me. As one would expect, the presence of Asamoah Gyan and Castro attracted other persons to the group during the team’s entire weekend stay at Ada.

The trip itself was not remarkable in any respect, but for the unfortunate events of Sunday 6 July 2014. It was not remarkable because it is the annual practice of the core group that went to Ada to go on a weekend vacation at the end of the football calendar. The original destination of the trip this year was the Maritime Club at Akosombo. The venue had to be changed at short notice as a result of repair works then being carried on the main yacht at that resort.

These trips, this year’s included, are funded by Asamoah Gyan – as treats to his close friends and associates. The trips, including this year’s, are organized by Samuel Anim Addo – the Managing Director of Asamoah Gyan Foundation, Gyan Investments Ltd., Baby Jet Promotions, Mama Vits Investment Ltd, and the spokesperson for Asamoah Gyan. For some curious reason, the Daily Graphic has resorted to characterizing Samuel Anim Addo as the errand boy of the Gyan brothers. But I digress.

Samuel Anim Addo books the rooms in his name, and he allocates them to Asamoah Gyan’s invitees at his discretion. Of course, he also has discretion to invite a few of his own friends. The core group of invitees congregated variously at the Shell station at the Tema Motorway roundabout, from where the team set off, excluding me. I joined them later that night.

The core group had dinner at the restaurant at Aqua Safari Resort and took boat rides on the Volta River thereafter. The boats, numbering three (3), were rented from the resort. The boat rides terminated without incident at about 10:30 p.m. The core group then proceeded to the poolside of the resort for a night barbecue, which ran well into the morning of Saturday 5 July 2014. As is their custom, Asamoah Gyan and Castro entertained guests at the poolside with live singing performances.

I left Ada at 4 a.m. on Saturday 5 July 2014 to attend to a pressing legal matter in Accra but with the intention of returning later that day to rejoin the core group at Peace Holiday Resort, located about seven minutes drive from Aqua Safari Resort.

As my last statement suggests, the team checked out of Aqua Safari Resort on Saturday 5 July 2014 and checked into Peace Holiday Resort soon thereafter. However, as subsequent events would show, the relationship that weekend between the core group and Aqua Safari Resort did not end on 5 July.

The core group spent the better part of the incident-free 5 July at Peace Holiday Resort, ending the day with a live band party which also featured, again, performances by the hiplife duo – Castro and Baby Jet (Asamoah Gyan). I could not rejoin the core group that day as I had intended. Fate engineered my reunion with the core group the next day under very grim and unhappy circumstances.

On Sunday 6 July 2014, the core group had breakfast at Peace Holiday Resort. Part of the group, including Asamoah Gyan and Castro, took boat rides to Aqua Safari resort to rent jet skis. The skis were rented by the individual members from the management of Aqua Safari Resort and each person was made to sign a generic form that purports to indemnify the resort against unhappy events that may ensue.

The Jet Ski riders did several trips up on the Volta River between Aqua Safari Resort and Peace Holiday Resort and also circumnavigated the island overlooking the later resort, which bears its name. All the riders, including Castro, were provided with and, indeed, wore contraptions intended as life jackets. Castro wore a bright reddish colour of the said contraption.

At some point during the Jet Ski rides, Asamoah Gyan suggested that the core group play a volley ball game at the sandy river end of Aqua Safari Resort. All the jet ski riders of the core group, except Castro, disembarked at Aqua Safari Resort for the volley ball game. Castro indicated that he wanted to ride a little bit longer. The other members of the core group, who were at Peace Holiday Resort, including Baffour Gyan were called in to join the others at Aqua Safari Resort. They left in groups of three (3) or four (4) on boats rented from Peace Holiday Resort to join the volley ball game at Aqua Safari Resort.

Castro rode for the last time from Aqua Safari Resort to Peace Holiday Resort where Baffour Gyan and a few others, including Alberta Tetteh, Nana Akua Ayisi and Janet Bandu were waiting for their turn to take the boat ride to Aqua Safari Resort.

When Castro got to Peace Holiday Resort Janet Bandu requested to ride on the jet ski with him, and he obliged her. While she was climbing on board Castro’s jet ski, Baffour Gyan noticed that she was not wearing a life jacket. He immediately shot up to his feet and remonstrated with Castro to ensure that Janet wore a life jacket before setting off. Castro sped off, as soon as Janet sat behind him, toward the estuary – in the direction of where the Volta joins the Atlantic. They have not returned, eighty (80) odd days since they set off.

The rest of the members of the core group eventually joined the others at Aqua Safari Resort within the hour. While the volley ball game was still on, Samuel Anim Addo, was called aside by a staff of Aqua Safari Resort – who informed him that a call had been placed through to Aqua Safari Resort from a resort located in the Tsarleykope area that one of the jet skis belonging to Aqua Safari Resort had been spotted on the Volta River without its occupant(s). A head count showed that Castro and Janet had not returned.

Samuel Anim Addo was invited to join a search party that was constituted by Mubarak Montia, Adjei Annan, Ernest Doe and Theophilus Doe – staff of Aqua Safari Resort. One of the crafts the party went with overturned near the location where the Jet Ski was found. Thankfully, there were no injuries or fatalities.

Within an hour and half of the reported sighting of the unmanned jet ski, I returned to Ada, by which time the Ada Police, the District Chief Executive of Ada East District and the Member of Parliament for the area had been informed of the matter.

Together with these officials, Samuel Anim Addo and I took charge and we triggered a comprehensive search and rescue effort operating from the conference room of Peace Holiday Resort, which was entirely shut down for the purpose. We called in the Tema Police Command, the Marine Police, and the Navy, planes from the Air Force, local fishermen and traditionalists. The main search effort continued for a full week.

We issued two brief press statements on Asamoah Gyan’s official website to confirm the disappearance of Castro and Janet and the efforts being made to find them. Since then the group has cooperated fully with the police in their investigation. I have personally supervised our involvement in the investigations.

Wild Allegations and Rumours
When it became apparent that Castro and Janet had disappeared, an article appeared on-line which appeared to commiserate with Asamoah Gyan citing the recent loss of his mother and now the loss of his best friend. One would have thought that this would have been a point of reference to console the Gyans – and indeed, a good number of well-meaning persons expressed this sentiment and sought to encourage us to stand firm. To the thousands of individuals and institutions that came to our aid and to offer support, we express our gratitude.

Sadly, the expression of empathy during a person’s moment of grief and utter dismay does not sell in the media. What sells in the media, and what indeed sold and is still selling in the media in Ghana are wild allegations and rumours directed especially at Asamoah Gyan – ranging from the absurd – of the imputation of criminality to him in the sense that he either murdered Castro or had him kidnapped – and ending with the ludicrous – that he sacrificed him spiritually to enhance his career.

We have been silent while these wild allegations and rumours have been peddled in the media. We have been silent not because we are concealing anything or that we do not feel the need to fully state what, from our reckoning, had happened in Ada. We have been silent because we did not want to interfere with police investigations and recently the leveling of assault charges against Baffour Gyan and Samuel Anim Addo sealed our mouths further. Now, we can come out openly because the police have stated their position and the assault charges against Baffour Gyan and Samuel Anim Addo have been dropped and they have been discharged. We will revisit this matter.

In our painful silence, we have been totally dismayed by the fact that the platform was provided for the peddling of these wild and ludicrous allegations and rumours against us. Those to whom the platform was provided offered no evidence whatsoever to back their statements. And indeed, the allegation of spiritual sacrifice can by no stretch of the imagination be propped up.

The startling development has been the outbursts of persons who should know better. Indeed, one such person has gone has far as to claim that he knows where Castro is being kept and that Asamoah Gyan also knows where Castro is being kept. He also made the unfortunate statement that we have bribed Castro’s family to keep silent over the matter. Castro’s father has publicly denied this. This is no way to treat grieving families and friends.

If this person has knowledge of such wonderful information, we encourage him to report his findings immediately to the police. It will better serve the purpose of the families of Castro and Janet Bandu. If he has been unable to do this all this while, then his statements are, to put it charitably, mischievous or calculated to earn him very cheap popularity.

Admittedly, the net effect of the peddling of these wild allegations and rumours is that the word on the street is that we had a hand in the disappearance of Castro and Janet Bandu. This is how a person’s reputation gets ruined and this is how disaffection gets sowed in the minds of persons against the person who is being attacked so unfairly.

Perhaps we should have come out earlier. But I have already explained why we could not. Now, we take the opportunity and state without the slightest doubt in our minds that we are not blamable for the disappearance of Castro and Janet Bandu. We had no hand in that occurrence. We have no moral or legal culpability whatsoever. None of us rode out into the open estuary with Castro and Janet Bandu.

Castro rode out there on his own volition and none of us have the slightest idea as to what happened to them. We have only been guess working and conjecturing and making what appears to us to be intelligent deductions – in light of the facts available to us, especially the fact that when they rode out on the jet ski Janet Bandu was not wearing a life jacket.

We do not know Janet Bandu that well. However, we do know that from the time we met her on 4 July 2014 till her disappearance on 6 July 2014, she proved herself to be a well-mannered and graceful lady. We have no ill will against her.

We know Castro all too well. He was our brother. We loved him as one of our own. We did everything together with him. You are all witnesses to the hit songs Castro has been featuring Asamoah Gyan on and the added popularity that gave him. Indeed, the duo were just about to release another song. We will never do anything to harm him. We are in unimaginable pain and shock and we will give anything to Castro and Janet back.

The Daniel Kenu Affair
The wild allegations and rumours prompted Daniel Kenu, the Ashanti Regional Editor of the Daily Graphic, to pose his now famous question to Asamoah Gyan – in a bid to offer the captain of the Black Stars an opportunity to clear his name.

On hindsight, it seems to us that Daniel Kenu was not actuated by malice. Perhaps he meant well and on an occasion different from the one in which the question was posed, it may not have evoked the emotional response it did. And perhaps we should have taken the opportunity to lay to rest these wicked allegations and rumours. However, the question caused Asamoah Gyan great distress. And the debate will forever rage as to the propriety or otherwise of the question.

Yet our reaction to the question could have been better handled. We should have just ignored him and we wished we had done just that.
We deeply regret one thing. We regret the presence of Baffour Gyan at the location where Daniel Kenu was roughed up. He was still fuming over Daniel Kenu’s question posed to his brother earlier. And he confronted him angrily.

A few unhappy words were spoken in the heat of the situation. We regret this incident especially because it created an avenue for some young men, who were present, to rough the journalist up. Baffour Gyan ought to have known that some of these young men are prone to fighting causes for football stars and his angry outburst at Daniel Kenu may unintentionally send a signal to them to get physical. We apologize for Baffour Gyan’s angry outburst at Daniel Kenu. It was uncalled for and we believe it will not be repeated.

Media Relations
We condemn Daniel Kenu’s roughing up. And we condemn any physical attack on journalists. Aside their own given football gift, the Gyan brothers are who they are because of the media. And despite the heavy criticisms leveled against them in the media in respect of their failings, they have always had a commendable working relationship with the media until the Daniel Kenu incident. Asamoah Gyan has a bit more of football time. And he will always need the media to cover his games, especially as he captains the Black Stars.

We humbly call for a truce between the Gyan brothers on the one hand, and the media on the other hand. We are reaching out a friendly hand to journalists and the media. Please accept it. It is time to let the matter rest.

Lawyer Kissi Agyebeng
Managing Partner
Cromwell Gray LLP

(PHOTO) NICHOLAS OMANE ACHEAMPONG & WIFE...SAYS GOD HAS SPOKEN TO HIM ABOUT GHANA

Gospel singer Nicholas Omane Acheampong has said he has received a vision from God concerning solutions to the economic challenges Ghana is going through.

“When God spoke to me, he told me to tell Ghanaians that we have brought a curse upon ourselves and that it is not the amount of prayers we say that would save us. He said we should stop praying and learn to speak the truth in all we do, right from the persons in leadership to the last person on the social ladder.

“God also told me that it is only a cursed people who would have all the rich minerals including gold, bauxite, crude oil and even the best cocoa in the world, yet its leaders would go to beg for money from other countries where they do not have even half of the resources we have,” Omane Acheampong noted.

The gospel musician said after receiving the vision, he asked God what he should do and God told him to put the message in the form of a song and sing it to the nation.“If I entitle the song ‘Ghana’, it would sound like a patriotic song; so I decided to do a little research and I found something interesting.

I realised that March 6, 1957—the day Ghana was born—fell on a Wednesday; so Ghana is called ‘Akua’ and not ‘Ama Ghana’. Ama is for Saturday borns and if our independence day was on a Wednesday, why do we call Ghana ‘Ama Ghana’? Calling a person by a wrong name can change the person’s destiny.

“So I decided to put the message into a song and name it ‘Akuya-57’ because Ghana was born on a Wednesday in 1957. And the song contains the exact message God gave me for the country and it is about speaking the truth,” Omane Acheampong explained.

The gospel musician denied he has said in the song that all Ghanaian politicians are corrupt: “The politicians themselves are accusing each other of corruption, so why should it take a gospel musician to tell them they are corrupt. That would not be news. I have not said that in the song.

I said the attitude of dishonesty and telling of lies cuts across all sectors of our country—politicians, artisans, journalists, lawyers, entertainers, landlords, tenants and drivers all included.”

The Akuya-57 album would be launched on Sunday October 5, 2014 at the Glorious Wave Church International at Sakumono in Accra.

It is expected to be another hit song to add to Omane Acheampong’s repertoire of mega hit songs including Tabitha Kum, Zaphanat Panea and Maher-shalal-Hash-ba.

XCLUSIV FOTOS: BAFFOUR GYAN AND SAMMY ANIM ADDO CRY AT PRESS CONFERENCE

The physical silence of Black Stars captain Asamoah Gyan and his elder brother Baffour Gyan, over the mysterious disappearance of Hiplife Musician Castro and Janet Bandu, which seems to be fueling rumours that they may be hiding something from the media and the public, was repeated at the press conference yesterday.

The press conference was put together by the Asamoah Gyan Foundation to clear the air and allow the media to ask questions about the Castro and Janet Bandu mystery and the assault of Journalist Daniel Kenu.

Even though Asamoah “Baby Jet” Gyan was absent, his brother and former Black Stars player Baffour Gyan and Sammy Addo, Business Manager and Spokesperson for the Gyan brothers, were both present at the press conference seated on the high table with Dr. Tony Aubyn, Board Chairman of Medeama FC and Lawyer Kissi Agyebeng.

Both Dr. Tony Aubyn who chaired the press conference and the Lawyer spoke but Sammy Anim Addo and Baffour Gyan did not utter a word all through the press conference.

Media men present were asked to direct their questions to Lawyer who duly answered all the questions. However, Sammy and Baffour Gyan couldn’t hold on to their emotions in silence after all. The two broke down in uncontrollable tears while Lawyer Kissi Agyebeng was narrating the unfortunate incident.

The Lawyer explained that the statement he read at the conference was an official statement prepared with the input of Asamoah Gyan, Baffour Gyan, Sammy Anim Addo and anybody else that mattered so they didn’t have to speak because they want to present one front.

He however made reference to their crying when a journalist asked how the whole issue has affected the Gyan family. “You saw our brothers almost breaking down in tears.

That was not a show! We have all being dismayed and devastated”, Lawyer Kissi Agyebeng stated.

The Gyan family has vehemently stated that they are not to be blamed for Castro and Janet Bandu’s disappearance “we take the opportunity and state without the slightest doubt in our minds that we are not blamable for the disappearance of Castro and Janet Bandu. We had no hand in that occurrence. We have no moral or legal culpability whatsoever.”

Well checkout the pictures from the press conference:

CULTURE DIFFERENCES CONTRIBUTED GREATLY TO MY AMERICAN WOMAN MARRIAGE BREAK UP - KWAW KESE

Few months ago, Ghanaian musician-Kwaw Kese announced via social media site-Twitter that he was a FREE MAN after about 6 years of marriage to his American wife, who used to work for the America Embassy in Ghana.

Without citing any reason, the rumours started—with many saying, he has dumped his wife because he has obtained his US citizenship or whatever, and as such, he has no use for the white woman.

Yesterday, Kwaw Kese told Bola Ray on Starr Fm’s Drive Time that, the huge culture differences between himself and his American ex-wife contributed greatly to their marriage not working.

He said; “Bola you know I’m a black man and I tasted a different culture and I fell like it is not my thing.”

He added “To me I think is the culture because there are some things we do here in Ghana they don’t do in America so I think the cultural difference also counted.”

The important question is; did Kwaw Kese not know about the cultural gap or differences before jumping into the marriage?

And what are the other reasons? Anyway, those Ghanaian women looking for a mad man insane, Kwaw is fully back on the market and you can try your luck.