Court Fines Bulldog GH¢48,000 For Threatening Akufo-Addo Over Menzgold Saga

The Accra Circuit Court has fined artiste manager, Lawrence Nana Asiamah Hanson, aka Bulldog, GH¢48,000 for saying on tv that President Akufo-Addo will not finish his second term if he does not pay customers of Menzgold.

Failure to pay the fine will land Bulldog 40 days in prison.Bulldog had pleaded not guilty to offensive conduct conducive to the breach of the peace.

He was however found guilty today after two years of trial by the court, presided over by Evelyn Asamoah.

On January 9, 2021, Bulldog was part of panelists that appeared on an entertainment programme on United Television (UTV).

When the issue of Menzgold came up for discussion on the show, Bulldog said, “the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo will not finish his four year tenure if he failed to pay Menzgold customers.”

In his defence, the artiste manager cum entertainment critic said he never intended to threaten the President or breach the peace.

Rather, he said he wanted to appeal to the President’s conscience to help the customers of Menzgold.

However, in her sentence, the judge was of the considered opinion Bulldog could not had intended to appeal to the conscience of the President due to the gravity of his statement.

The judge said the statement clearly threatened the President and was meant to incite people against the First Gentleman of the land.

“What he said could have serious security implications as it put the President in danger,” the judge said.

Facts

The facts as presented by prosecution, led by Chief Inspector Apiosornu, were that the complainants in the case are citizens and regular viewers of UTV programme dubbed “United Showbiz,” hosted by Nana Ama Agyemang Mcbrown, which is live every Saturday between the hours of 9pm and midnight.

The prosecution said on January 9, 2019, the programme was aired on UTV as usual and Bulldog was one of the panelists who appeared on the show.

Chief Inspector Apiorsornu said during the programme, the issue of Menzgold was raised and Hanson quickly responded that “The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo will not finish his four year tenure if he failed to pay Menzgold customers.”

The Prosecution said on January 11, this year, the Police intercepted the said video recording on the face book page of UTV, which attracted many comments from viewers who watched and heard the accused making those “unguided” comments.

The prosecution said on January 12, this year, Hanson was handed over to the Police by the National Intelligence Bureau for investigations.

He said in the course of the investigations, the Police requested for the original video recording from UTV and it was played to the accused and he admitted having made those comments.

The Prosecution said the original video, which was in Twi and English language was forwarded to the Ghana Institute of Languages for transcription and same was transcribed into English language.

Credit: graphiconline.com