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08.06.2011 General News

MZBEL: From Grace To Grass

08.06.2011 LISTEN
By Daily Guide

Ghanaian female musician Mzbel has found herself on the wrong side of the law and is currently in detention under police custody. She and two others have been remanded for assaulting a police officer and committing various motor traffic offences.

NEWS-ONE takes a peek into her 32-year-old life that has witnessed some rather intriguing incidents including allegations of being robbed and raped by armed robbers and being sexually assaulted by some male students at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, (KNSUT) as well as her showbiz career and controversies.

Quick Facts
Real Name : Belinda Nana Ekua Amoah
Showbiz Name : Mzbel
Date of Birth : December 26, 1979
Number of Children : One (a son)
Marital Status : Single
Ambition : Own a recording studio, become an international musician and help street children

Education: Abuakwa State College (1995 - 1997), Ghana Institute of Languages (1998 -1999.)

THE GENESIS
Mzbel is the last born of seven children. She started her music career from Hush Hush studios in 2002 where she worked in the studio and occasionally sang as a backup artiste until luck fell on her laps and some of her songs were selected for recording.

Her first album, ' Awosome' , was recorded in 2004. ' 16 Years' is about her greatest hit song.

Before her music career, Mzbel worked with various institutions including GBC Radio 1, where she hosted a children's programme, Groove FM (now Adom FM) and at TV3 as a production assistant for one of the station's youth shows known as Goldblast (now Music Music).

SEXUAL ASSAULT AT KNUST
In January 2006, Mzbel dragged the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) to court, claiming damages of ¢600 million for her an alleged sexual assault carried on her by male students of the university  during a programme on campus in October 2005.

She had claimed in the law suit that while she was performing on stage, some of the male students, without any invitation, provocation and permission, invaded the stage and, in their frenzy, violently assaulted her, tore her trousers, made her naked and inserted their fingers into her private part, while the rest indiscriminately fondled her breasts.

ROBBED AND RAPED
In 2006, she was reported to have been robbed and sexually assaulted by three armed robbers who broke into her rented apartment at New Gbawe on the outskirts of Accra

Reports say the robbers also took away  $900, £500, two DVD players, a CD and cassette player, a digital video camera, an Ephson Laptop, jewellery, clothes and five mobile phones from the victims.

'They locked us up and left for some time, apparently to search the house. We heard them opening drawers and wardrobes…they did so many bad things to us in the house,' Mzbel told journalists hours after the attack.

ARREST AND REMAND
Mzbel was last Monday remanded into police custody for five days following an order by an Accra Motor Court that she and two others be remanded for assaulting a police officer.

NEWS-ONE reported last Monday that Mzbel, 31 and two other accomplices were arrested by officials of the Motor Transport and Traffic Unit (MTTU) for physically assaulting a uniformed policeman on official duty.

The musician and two others were reported to have deliberately run their Mitsubishi 4×4 vehicle with registration number GR 9470-11, into the policeman who fell on the bonnet of the vehicle.

They then sped off and drove for a distance, with the policeman still hooked dangerously on the bonnet while eyewitnesses screamed at the horror of what was happening.

Their vehicle was eventually forced to stop when it was crossed by a private security van.

Police sources say when Mzbel got out of the Mitsubishi, she started yelling at the cop, claiming he had no right to cross their way.

The musician got more physical and held the uniformed policeman by the neck in an attempt to strangle him while pushing a clenched fist in his face, but onlookers rushed to the rescue of the policeman.

Reports say when Mzbel realized she had fallen foul of the law, she started wailing, claiming to have been assaulted by the policeman instead, but onlookers started hooting at her.

The vehicle and its occupants were therefore taken to the MTTU headquarters, where the three were arrested for various offences and placed in custody to be processed for court this morning.

Mzbel and her accomplices could face jail terms if found guilty.

 
 
MUSIGA BEGS
President of the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA), Diana Hopeson, yesterday told Joy News that her union would plead with the  police to 'temper justice with mercy'.

'You don't throw the bathwater away with your baby…as artistes, most of the time, one may be in a hurry going for a programme and it's late. When it happens like that, we both need patience. As one of us, of course, when things like this happens for the musician, that is her whole life, her image.

'Sometimes, just one issue happens like this and one's career may just go down and that is why we would want to come in…We all stand out for justice but in doing it… in this world, no matter what you do, you may find yourself wanting one way or the other. When it happens, we all look into it and see how we can make this better,' Diana Hopeson noted.

BACK IN COURT ON FRIDAY
The sexy songstress is currently on remand in police custody and will re-appear in court on Friday.

The police say they will proceed with the prosecution as a warning to other traffic offenders.

Source: NEWS ONE

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