Tension Brews In Sogakope Over Ownership Of Radio Station

Tension is seemingly brewing in Sogakope in the Volta region between the chiefs and residents on one hand and the owner of the Tongu Youth and Children Evangel (TOYACE) on the other hand over the ownership of Tongu Radio. The chiefs and people of Sogakope in the South Tongu District, Today gathered, were seething with anger over what they described as �complete show of power� by the owner of TOYACE who is claiming ownership of Tongu Radio, a community radio in Sogakope. The residents in the community are however not happy with the owner of TOYACE whose name for security reason is withheld for allegedly refusing to meet with the traditional rulers and key stakeholders in Sogakope to settle the ownership matter of Tongu Radio. Sources close to the traditional authorities at Sogakope told Today that several attempts to get the owner of TOYACE to the negotiation table to address the issue has proved futile, a situation which has generated intense tension in Sogakope township. Tongu Radio, Today established, was set up on Friday, February 13, 2010 by the Sogakope community (chiefs and people,) TOYACE, a Sogakope-based community organisation, and Christian Evangelism and Youth Development with support from the United Nations Democratic Fund (UNDF). Tongu Radio, which uses exclusively the local Ewe (Tongu dialect) to communicate to its listeners, was established in Sogakope to promote socio-economic and cultural development in Sogakope and its adjoining communities. Today further discovered that the owner of TOYACE who is claiming the entire ownership of Tongu Radio has unilaterally ordered the closure of the accounts of the station in the Sogakope branch of Ghana Commercial Bank Limited (GCBL). His intention for closing the accounts, the paper learnt, was because he suspected the Director in-charge of Tongu Radio, Mr. Bestway Zottor, was allegedly withdrawing money from the GCBL account of the station without his knowledge. That development Today was told, accounted for the director of the station to petition the chiefs and some opinion leaders of Sogakope on the matter. And looking at the sensitive nature of the issue, the chiefs and the opinion leaders and the stakeholders consequently set up a nine-member committee to conduct investigations into it. According to this paper�s sources, the committee advised the two feuding factions�Mr. Zottor and the self-acclaimed owner of the radio station (Tongu Radio)�to step aside in the daily administration of the station for the committee to carry out its independent investigations into the matter. But that advice, Today uncovered, did not go down well with the self-professed owner of the station. That, Today was reliably informed, compelled the self-acclaimed owner of Tongu Radio to allegedly �attack the chiefs by removing their seats� in one of their meetings aimed at settling the matter. The incident which happened in Sogakope a couple of days ago was met with mixed reactions from the people of Sogakope where the issue was on Dela FM in Adidome for discussion. Speaking on Dela FM, members of the committee expressed disappointment in the self-acclaimed owner of the radio station for his refusal to cooperate with the committee to find a lasting solution to the issue. In that vein the committee sent a strong warning to the owner of TOYACE to stay away from Tongu Radio or face the wrath of the chiefs and people of Sogakope. The owner of the TOYACE is currently locked up in a fierce fight with the chiefs and people of Sogakope over the radio station, which has within a very short time, established itself as one of Ghana�s most influential news and current affairs station. The man, who just came back from Canada is laying claim to 90 per cent shares in the community radio station. Several attempts to get the owner of TOYACE to respond to the allegations proved unsuccessful as he failed to answer text messages and telephone calls from this reporter.