Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has disclosed that American rapper, Meek Mill’s apology on shooting a video at the country’s Jubilee House appears sincere.
According to him, the apology from the rapper should be accepted by Ghanaians. Nonetheless, he questioned the safety of the President and the country following the upload of the video on Mill’s Instagram status which has since been deleted.
“It does appear Meek Mill’s multiple apologies to Ghanaians are quite sincere and should be accepted by all.”
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
Mr Ablakwa stated that his only serious reservation is the American rapper’s claim that he engaged in all that “deplorable desecration” and major security breach on the blind side of officials. As a consequent, he emphasized his call for a thorough investigation into the matter by parliament.
“This has, without a scintilla of doubt, further justified earlier demands for urgent investigations and severe sanctions.”
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa
Earlier, the North Tongu legislator underscored the need for all those responsible for the “despicable desecration” of the Jubilee House by Meek Mill to be fired immediately.
Mr Ablakwa expressed concern over how those “explicit lyrics” from the President’s lectern project Ghana positively. He further questioned how Ghana’s seat of government is no longer a high security installation.
Meanwhile, a government spokesperson, Kofi Tontoh, has conceded that some errors were made in how American rapper, Meek Mill, was handled by officials at the Presidency regarding the shooting of his music video at the seat of government of Ghana. He opined that officials must admit that an error was made in how the whole situation was handled.
“If an error is made it is okay for us to admit that there is an error. I think at that point, someone should have taken control and say, ‘let us take the pictures and then let us give it to him’.”
Kofi Tontoh
Mr Tontoh recounted that last week, he saw some pictures of Meek Mill of which he was taken aback. He elaborated that his surprise was not as a result of the rapper being necessarily present at Jubilee House, but rather his way of dressing.
“I was taken aback a little bit. I felt, why wasn’t he dressed up properly especially, if he is getting the opportunity to go and see the President? Perhaps someone could have given him a nice caftan, that was where the first issue started…”
Kofi Tontoh
Ghanaians incensed over Meek Mill’s video shoot
Prior to this, investigative journalist, Manasseh Azure Awuni, highlighted the risk a Ghanaian journalist will be exposed to for filming a video like Meek Mill did. He stated that the journalist would have been arrested on sight.
Commenting on how the American rapper was allowed to film a music video at the seat of the presidency, which is considered a security zone, Mr Azure Awuni indicated that such an opportunity would not have been given to a local journalist.
Citing the incident involving Citi FM’s Caleb Kudah, who was arrested by the National Security for filming some seized vehicles, he iterated that the video shot at the Jubilee House by a Ghanaian journalist in a similar fashion would have suffered same fate.
It will be recalled that American rapper, Meek Mill, posted a video on Sunday, January 8, 2023, on his Instagram page which was visibly taken at the Jubilee House. The video caused a major upset among Ghanaians who questioned government’s seeming negligence of the state of security at the presidency.
Others believed that the preferential treatment given the American rapper will not be accorded to musicians under similar circumstance.
Following the public outburst, Meek Mill has since apologized for posting his controversial music video. In a tweet on Monday January 9, 2023, he stated that it was not his intention to disrespect Ghanaians.
Reacting to the barrage of criticisms that have greeted the video, Mill noted that contrary to the perceptions in the public, his aim was simply to project art. He insisted that his motivation for shooting the video was to help project Ghana and further strengthen the bond between Africans across the globe.
