Ghana: Police investigate Shatta Wale over shooting prank

The prank seemed to be a response to recurring doomsday prophesies on the ‘Aready’ star’s life, the latest being a 28 September prediction by a local pastor Stephen Akwasi Appiah on Accra 100.5 FM that the musician would be gunned down on 18 October, in the same fashion as South African reggae legend Lucky Dube, who was killed by armed robbers in Johannesburg in 2007.

In 2019, police in Ghana expressed concern about a trend of death prophecies by religious persons, noting that “such prophecies had the tendency of breaching public peace and causing fear and panic in the country. The police administration is therefore cautioning these persons who make such pronouncements to be mindful of the security implications of their utterances.”

The country was thrown into a state of panic after known associates of Shatta Wale, including personal assistant and public relations officer Nana Kojo Owusu Koranteng alias Nana Dope, brands manager Iddriss ‘Deportee’ Yussif and Ara-B, an artist under the singer’s SM4LYF Records, shared posts on social media suggesting that Shatta Wale was admitted at a local hospital after being shot by unknown gunmen.

“If not [for] the fact that he was driving prepared, it would have been too bloody,” Koranteng posted on Snapchat. “Those circulating the video should kindly stop! I believe the king is gonna come out alive and okay! Keep him in your prayers! They can never bring a good man down. Thanks to all those calling to check up, the king is still at the emergency ward receiving treatment. The gunmen are still on the run. Thanks to Ghana Police.”

Yussif wrote on Facebook, seemingly confirming the incident: “So true true the pastor make them shoot Shatta Wale [sic]. Right in front [of] me at East Legon, you did this to Shatta Wale.”

Hours later, Ghana Police Service issued a statement saying that they had “launched an investigation into the matter including making contacts with some of his close friends and family members and all of them claim not to have knowledge of his whereabouts or the alleged incident.

“A team has visited the house of Shatta Wale and he cannot be found there. Over the last few hours, the police have searched and continue to look for Shatta Wale at hospitals in Accra.”

As the night went on, the absence of passer-by accounts and Shatta Wale’s notoriety for public antics, led many to dismiss the news as a promotional stunt in support of the artist’s forthcoming album Gift of God, which has been delayed since 2020 due to COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. Many also condemned him for sparking fear and panic in contravention to Section 208 of Ghana’s Criminal Code of 1960, which states that a “person who publishes or reproduces any statement, rumour or report which is likely to cause fear and alarm to the public or to disturb the public peace knowing or having reason to believe that the statement, rumour or report is false is guilty of a misdemeanour.”

In the early hours of Tuesday, Shatta Wale made a statement on social media berating “false prophets” for causing him psychological trauma, adding that Appiah’s pronouncement had thrown him into a state of “violence since no one in this country cares.”

He continued: “So the police of this country want to tell me none of them saw those threatening statements online to take action? This pastor said [on] 18 October, ‘Shatta Wale will be shot’, and you want to tell me you didn’t see from your cybercrime department nor did you hear or come across anything like that online?

“I won’t wait for Ghana Police to call my father and tell my father his son got shot this afternoon. I won’t wait for Ghana’s stupid media houses to spread the news to my fans about me being shot because all we wish in this country is for dead people and funerals. If my life can be threatened and there is no law to take actions on that then I guess I will do what is right in the eyes of God.”

The musician also apologised to his family, team and fans for the stress his action put them through.

This is not Shatta Wale’s first public scandal involving a firearm. In 2017, the musician was widely criticised after a video of him firing warning shots into the air at his home was published on social media. At the 2019 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards, Shatta Wale was involved in an onstage scuffle with then arch-rival Stonebwoy, which saw the latter brandishing a pistol on stage. The feuding pair was suspended from the awards scheme and reinstated earlier this year.

Meanwhile, Shatta Wale is readying the release of GOG Chaff, a precursor EP to the new album.