Booing of Akufo-Addo blown out of proportion, it was only 10 people who chant 'away away' — Socrate Safo

Movie producer Socrate Safo has expressed shock at the banter over the booing of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at the Global Citizen Festival in the media space.

To him, the drama that unfolded over the public heckling and booing has been blown out of proportion.

He described the booing as a “group of about 10 to 15 people doing that AWAY AWAY thing”, adding that, majority of the crowd cheered the President up when he was called to address them.

Speaking on Okay FM’s ‘Best Entertainment Show’ hosted by Halifax Ansah-Addo, the Director for Creative Arts at the National Commission on Culture said a small group of people setting an agenda cannot be seen as disaffection from all Ghanaian youths.

“People were excited at the event. When the President came and spoke, people around were extremely happy, a lot of people were cheering him up then later I saw on social media that people booed at the President. I didn’t understand. I was asking myself at what point. How? The crowd came there for fun-making, its normal others didn’t love the idea of speech reading. They purposely came there to listen to music and enjoy various performances. The narration that the whole crowd booed at the President is purely an exaggeration."

He added, “I didn’t see it that way. What I rather saw was that, at the far end, a group of about 10 to 15 people doing that AWAY AWAY thing. They were trying hard to push with that. But I’m telling you, the other cheering noise was far more than those who were trying to do the AWAY thing and I saw videos which confirm what I am saying. It was a pocket of people doing that, and they were filming. That’s what has been put out as the crowd booing at the President. The news about it has been exaggerated. To present a picture as if everybody there was booing at the President is something that me; I feel is not the true representation”.