Following Whatsup News’ story about a boardroom war snowballing into an implosion at Accra-based Citi FM, more tidbits have emerged threatening to collapse the popular media house.
Reliable sources tell Ghana’s first e-newspaper that in the next few weeks Citi TV will break away from Citi FM with the radio station’s leading staff resigning in droves to work with Citi TV.
As the clock ticks down, however, some staff at the station who are said to be feeling betrayed have reportedly become disquiet and are angling to pay back the station for taking advantage of them by outing damaging dirty secrets.
Already, Whatsup News has heard allegations of tax evasion that are yet to be verified.
Then there is the threat to open a new can of worms into the open secret that Citi FM is a propaganda tool for the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) used to fight the NPP’s dirty media wars.
For their reported hatchet job for the NPP, the Akufo-Addo government is said to have rewarded the big boys at Citi FM handsomely, including cutting them sweetheart deals in the Aker Energy oil contracts and other juicy offerings.
As has already been reported, the troubles at Citi FM, which is the flagship of Nik Amarteifio’s Omini Media, is due to disagreements over shares in Citi TV, which only recently came on air.
According to earlier reports, Citi FM’s Managing Director, Samuel Atta Mensah, aka Sammens, had started Citi TV with some buddies of his while still heading Citi FM. Reportedly, he had earlier sold the TV station idea to Amarteifio, but had been brushed aside, causing Sammens to team up with friends, reportedly including Gabby Asare Otchere-Darko, to set up Citi TV.
However, after the TV station flourished, Amarteifio reportedy approached Sammens and demanded for 70% shares in Citi TV, provoking the disagreements that is now tearing Citi FM apart.
Whatsup News has since been learning that there may be more to the story, as Amarteifio is reportedly claiming Sammens never informed him about setting up CITI TV as independent of CITI FM.
Meanwhile, Sammens used Citi FM’s resources, especially its human resources, to get Citi TV off the ground, hence Nick’s demand of a 70% share in Citi TV.
Sources from within the station tell Whatsup News that when the station took off, Sammens asked staff of Citi FM to sacrifice for Citi TV, including taking pay cuts, in order to get the channel going. However, after the station became viable, only a few leading staff were given shares in Citi TV.
Among these leading staff, reportedly, are Bernadino Koku Avle, General Manager of Citi FM, Vivian Kai Loko, Frema Adunyame, and Jessica Opare Saforo, who only recently resigned from Citi FM and had until her resignation, been Programs Manager.
In fact, Jessica’s resignation, which was said to have been based on no particularly tangible reason has been seen as the herald to the coming exodus from Citi FM.
Other shareholders in Citi TV, according to reports, are Gabby Asare Otchere Darko, President Akufo-Addo’s notorious cousin and Metro TV’s partisan journalist, Paul Adom Otchere.
According to sources, plans are quite advanced for Citi TV to decouple itself from Citi FM, and relocate to a new office space near Peace FM.
For the rest of the Citi FM staff who feel betrayed, their grievance stems from the fact that they will not be among the privileged Citi FM staff who are moving to Citi TV, despite Sammens allegedly making them take pay cuts in order to save money to fund the off-take of the TV station.
Sammens is also accused of having been abusive with some of the staff, including highhandedly firing staff. Between January and February 2022 alone, more than 20 staff have reportedly been fired from Citi FM by Sammens.