Seizure of “Atta Mortuary Man” movie: What is this paranoia? Kwesi Pratt asks

Insight Editor, Kwesi Pratt disagrees with government's version of the seizure of movies Monday

The Editor of the Insight newspaper Mr Kwesi Pratt has condemned what he says is the unnecessary paranoia of public officials about issues concerning the President.

Being overly protective of the president and sensitive to what people do and say about him, he said, can only make the government appear intolerant.

Kwesi Pratt was commenting on the seizure of 13,000 copies of the yet-to-be-released movie, “Atta Mortuary Man” by persons said to be heavily armed national security men.

The seizure was believed to be related to suspicions that the movie - given its title - is intended to slight the president.

A Deputy Information Minister, Baba Jamal explained on Monday that the copies of the movie were seized because they had not been completely scrutinised; a claim the producer flatly rejected, insisting the movie had been given a clean bill of health by the appropriate organization mandated to scrutinize it. His assertion has since been confirmed by the Ghana Cinematography Control Board.

The Ghana Cinematography Exhibition Board of Control condemned the seizur, arguing the Board previewed and certified the 'Atta Mrotuary Man' movie.

A member of the Board, Mr Ken Addy said the movie had nothing to do with politics or any individual or organisation for that matter.

He said the national security operatives who carried out the action ought to have consulted the board before taking the rush decision.

In what appears to be a rationalisation of the seizure which has been condemned by many and a complete u-turn, Baba Jamal, speaking on Peace FM's Kokrokoo Tuesday, said the company that produced the movies was not a registered entity and thus was evading taxes.

Mr Kwesi Pratt, speaking on the same programme, however said he was depressed by the minister's tenuous and inconsistent arguments.

According to the editor, the only conclusion that could be drawn from the sequence of events pointed to the tittles of the movies – “Oh Uncle Atta”, which contains the President's middle name and “Atta Mortuary Man”, an anecdote used by ex-president Jerry John Rawlings in a story he told during a delegates' congress last year.

Mr Pratt said premise on which the movies were seized was flawed, saying “there is something fundamentally wrong” and that “… public officials are unnecessarily jittery about things involving the president.”

He called on government officials to immediately put a stop to such attitudes since they do not augur well for the image of the administration.

Mr Pratt raised concerns about the content of most movies on the market, maintaining that films that reinforce nudity, pornography and backwardness should be censored.

He insisted that if these areas were of concern to Ghanaians, then the standards of cleaning the system should be applied to all movies and not a selected few.

Story by Dorcas Efe Mensah/myjoyonline.com/Ghana