The third Vice-President of the major opposition party in Ghana (the New Patriotic Party), Alhaji Masawudu Osman, has publicly attacked the Accra-based TV3 television station at a press conference in Accra.
On January 26, 2025, the NPP announced its decision to withdraw from all Media General platforms (which includes TV3), citing unresolved concerns about perceived political bias against the party.
In a video that has gone viral on social networks, Alhaji Masawudu Osman of the NPP is seen pushing TV3’s microphone off the table during the press conference held on April 16, 2025. Out of several other microphones lined up before the party executives by other media outlets, Osman specifically singled out the microphone from TV3 and pushed it off.
Although his action was initially presumed to be unintentional, Osman later confirmed in an interview on Kumasi-based Ashh FM that he pushed the TV3’s microphone down on purpose.
“It is not the case that my hand accidentally hit the microphone to the floor. I intentionally pushed it to the floor. I was the one who pushed it to the floor because we do not need them at our programme. The way they [Media General] have been unfair to us, they should stay in their corner and allow us to do our thing,” Osman is reported to have said in the interview.
Osman went a step further to censor his NPP communicators to desist from engaging on any of the media platforms of the Media General group, which includes TV3, 3FM (online portal) and Onua FM.
“As I am talking now, if any communicator from the NPP appears on their [Media General’s] platform, we are going to suspend that communicator,” Osman warned.
In response, Media General issued a press release on April 18, 2025, regarding the microphone incident, stating that Osman had also threatened assault against its journalists who attend future NPP events. The press release also indicated that the media group had filed an official complaint with the Ghana Police Service in the interest of the safety of their staff and media personnel.
The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) strongly condemns the deliberate attack on TV3’s equipment during the press conference. The organisation also condemns the politician’s unapologetic admission of the act, his open censorship threat to party communicators, and the threat of assault against journalists from the Media General group.
We call on the Ghana Police Service to swiftly investigate the speech and actions of the NPP Vice-Chairman and bring him to book.
We also call on all political parties, their followers and the general public to accord the media the dignity and respect they deserve in the discharge of their duties. If anyone is aggrieved at any point by the content or conduct of any media outlet, they should follow due process and lodge a complaint with the media regulator, the National Media Commission. No one should take the law into their own hands and attack any journalist or media outlet as that is a violation of the laws of Ghana.
