A member of the New Patriotic Party communications team and Public Relations Officer of the National Youth Employment Agency, Awal Mohammed, has apologised for comments in which he reportedly referred to fans of dancehall artiste Shatta Wale as “junkies.”
According to him, the remark was made in the heat of a media debate and was not intended to insult or denigrate fans of the musician.
In a video posted on his social media platforms on January 21, Awal Mohammed explained the context in which the comment was made during a live discussion on Joy News on January 20.
“Yesterday I was on Joy News for their morning show and the topic of discussion centered around the stringent bail conditions imposed by this government after the arrest of some people in the last year.”
According to Awal Mohammed, during the discussion he used inappropriate language to describe a section of the artiste’s fan base while referencing protests staged by some fans of Shatta Wale outside the Economic and Organised Crime Office when the musician was detained by the office last year.
“I condemned what the government had done and in the heat of the debate I referred to a section of the fans of Shatta Wale as ‘junkies’. Sincerely, I want to clarify that I did not mean to denigrate or insult anyone and upon reflection, I think the the choice of words were out of place. I shouldn’t have used that word at all.”
He acknowledged that the comment offended many people and stressed that it did not reflect his personal values or character.
“I am here to apologize to each and everyone who felt insulted or denigrated by those words. I appreciate the passion of the fans and acknowledge the fact that my choice of words were really out of place.”
“It is completely out of sync with my character. I apologize sincerely to all Shatta Wale fans.”
