At the 34th Anniversary of the International Central Gospel Church, ICGC, General Overseer , Pastor Dr Mensah Otabil took a swipe at the Ghanaian Media saying instead of them focusing on discussing and finding solutions to the numerous problems confronting Ghana, they rather choose to wallow in a constant political discussions all-year round.
According to Mensa Otabil, the media in Ghana are so “depressing†and full of “mediocrity†– a situation, he said, compels him to prefer watching foreign TV channels that show documentaries about animals rather than wasting his time listening to local radio or watching local TV stations.
Mensa Otabil lamented, “If you listen to our national conversations, you wonder; are we serious?†Are we? “Turn on the radio. Here there is no political vacation. From the time the vote is cast to the time the next vote is cast, we argue politics morning, afternoon, evening… Check all your top radio talk shows, take politics out and they have nothing to talk about again. I won’t even say take politics out, take NPP and NDC out. Just say, this morning no NPP, no NDC. There’ll be no conversation because we can’t even think beyond two parties. We can’t think solutions and we are driving ourselves into this abyss of hopelessness.â€
 Mensa Otabil said in order not to “pollute†himself with the filth that is the Ghanaian media, he spends as little time as possible paying them any attention. According to him, he can only endure Ghanaian radio for as long as 15 minutes before turning off because “It is very depressing. It will contaminate your soulâ€. “I don’t watch Ghanaian TV much. I watch a little… one, two, three, and I say Oh nothing has changed, go back.â€
“I will watch animals. I’ll watch cheetah, I’ll watch lion, I’ll watch antelope anytime… I’ll watch giraffes anytime because at least they’ll tell me how to hunt, how to get to your goal, how to avoid being eaten. I’ll learn that from an antelope. At least I’d come back and say: nobody will eat me. But you listen to Ghanaian radio, watch Ghanaian TV and you wonder; are we still here, the mediocrity?â€.
However, in a sarcastic rebuttal, CEO Citi FM Samuel Atta-Mensah said if Man of God wants to talk about the “sorry state†of the Ghanaian media, he should also be ready to talk about the state of Churches in Ghana.
“I hear one pastor is talking about the “sorry state†of the Ghanaian media. Please tell that pastor to tell the whole Ghana on the same pulpit about the state of the church in Ghana today. I will continue with the post next week Sunday.â€
