An anonymous caller claiming to be an avid supporter of the Mills Presidency on Saturday called the Editor-In-Chief of the Searchlight newspaper, Ken Kuranchie, on his personal phone and declared him a legitimate target for possible physical elimination.
�We will get at you,� vowed the caller, who withheld his number but gave his name as �Gadzekpo,� during his verbal exchanges with The Searchlight Editor-In-Chief. �You alone if you lose your life, Ghana loses nothing�, the caller said belligerently, adding �You are a stupid man. Ken Kuranchie, you think you are the only man in this country eh...�
Ken Kuranchie recorded almost the entire duration of the verbal altercation he had with the caller -- a copy of which is in the hands of The Globe. �You be recording; do your recording,� the caller shouted, adding �You are a stupid man...You record and go and play,� after noticing he was being taped.
�You are discrediting yourself and you don�t know...My name is Gadzepkpo once again...I will deal with you personally,� the male voice threatened.
Ken Kuranchie was appearing on Citi FM�s news analysis programme, The Big Issue, when the call came through.
The caller was apparently provoked by Ken Kuranchie�s refusal to concede that last week�s front-page publication of his paper, which claimed President John Mills owned a new mansion near his Regimanuel residence, was false.
�...I continue to stand behind that publication four-square. I am not going to move a step from that publication...� he said on the show, which was aired live to radio listeners across the country.
The Searchlight boss was peeved that the President�s communication team did not invite his reporters to be part of the line-up of journalists who were taken to the President�s Asanfra Street private residence in a move to dispel reports about the �so-called Mills mansion.�
Ken Kuranchie�s comments on Saturday came days after the Presidency denied the publication and released letters it said were correspondences between President Mills and the management of Regimanuel Gray Estate in the matter of the proposed extension to the President�s private residence off the Spintex Road in Accra.
According to the letters, the Ghanaian leader is to pay for the project, which is to house members of his security detail.
The letters were said to have been written in early April, but when newsmen visited the site on Tuesday August 16, 2011, the project was still at the foundation stage.
Citi News Presidential Correspondent, Richard Mensah, who joined a team of journalists who visited the site, said the proposed two bedroom structure was at the foundation level, and was unlikely to be a storey building, given the quantity of iron rods and cement that was being used for the foundation. The security officers, he said, �are currently housed in tents and answer nature�s call in portable mobile toilets.�
But Mr. Kuranchie, whose newspaper broke news about the �mansion� for the president, told Citi FM the interval between the date the letters were purportedly written and the execution of the project further raised doubts about the urgency of the extension as the Castle will have Ghanaians believe.
The letters, he alleged during Saturday�s appearance on The Big Issue, were �forged,� but provided no evidence to back his claim, except to say �it is highly wrong for the President, in his personal capacity,� to use the letter head of the Office of President �to pursue his own personal agenda.�
His defiant stance attracted strong condemnation from Sam Pee Yalley and Kobby Fiagbe, all of whom appeared on the show in the name of the ruling National Democratic Congress.
But, their defence of the Mills Presidency in the face of Ken Kuranchie�s salvos was not enough to cool the hearts of pro-National Democratic Congress listeners, like Gadzekpo, who called Ken Kuranchie�s personal mobile phone to say he was an �irresponsible person� who has been �fabricating stories� about the Presidency.
At this stage, Ken Kuranchie, lost his cool, and responded, �You are just a coward. You are a coward...Foolish character...You are nobody...You can�t do anything, my brother.� His response further provoked the caller, who fired another round of unprintable and abusive words in retaliation.
�...We will deal with you...You wait a little; we will get at you... I will deal with you personally,� the caller vowed.
�...That nonsense that you are doing...I am not talking for the presidency. I am talking about the government that we defied all your odds and brought to power; that is the government that I am talking about. We defied your odds, with your security networks...now you are training people within the Atiwa forest and other places...we know...We will deal with you.�
Apparently, it was not the first time the said Gadzepko, was calling Ken Kuranchie�s phone to issue death threats.
After getting back into Citi FM�s studios to continue his submission on The Big Issue, Ken Kuranchie told the show host, who is also the author of this story, the conduct of the caller �is strictly unacceptable.�
He said, �This type of behaviour will not stop anybody. If I think that I have a job to do, I will do it to the best of my ability, ok. It takes one bullet. They should just come and get rid of me and like Rawlings said there will be a thousand more Ken Kuranchies...�
Asked by the show host if he intended to formally report the threats on his life to the police for the appropriate action, Ken Kuranchie said, �I am not going to make a formal complaint...� adding the caller �is welcome to come after me...For me it really is not a big deal.�
But, he was quick to add that �If I choose to pursue this matter, I can pursue it...�
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