Good Afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press.
If
you take a close look at the Daily Graphic, you will see at the top
right corner the words – 'Truth and Accuracy Every Day.' We take
inspiration from these beautiful words and make them the foundation of
this press meeting.
I
will address you on the disappearance of Castro and Janet Bandu, the
allegations and rumours thereafter, the Daniel Kenu affair, and the Gyan
brothers and media relations in that order.
The Disappearance of Castro and Janet Bandu
On
Friday 4 July 2014, Asamoah Gyan, the captain of the national football
team (the Black Stars), his elder brother Baffour Gyan (a former Black
Stars player), and some of their close friends and associates, checked
into Aqua Safari Resort at Ada for a weekend vacation.
The
core team included the boxer, Emmanuel Tagoe, alias Game Boy and his
sister Naa, Theophilus Tagoe, the hiplife star known as Castro (who
joined the team at the eleventh hour), Alberta Tetteh (Anim Addo's
associate who brought along two female friends, Nana Akua Ayisi and
Janet Bandu), Benjamin Owusu Ansah, Dauda Tetteh, Patrick Botchway,
Akwasi Bonsu, Kwabena Boateng, Joseph Kissi, Seth Tetteh, DJ George, and
me. As one would expect, the presence of Asamoah Gyan and Castro
attracted other persons to the group during the team's entire weekend
stay at Ada.
The
trip itself was not remarkable in any respect, but for the unfortunate
events of Sunday 6 July 2014. It was not remarkable because it is the
annual practice of the core group that went to Ada to go on a weekend
vacation at the end of the football calendar. The original destination
of the trip this year was the Maritime Club at Akosombo. The venue had
to be changed at short notice as a result of repair works then being
carried on the main yacht at that resort.
These
trips, this year's included, are funded by Asamoah Gyan – as treats to
his close friends and associates. The trips, including this year's, are
organized by Samuel Anim Addo – the Managing Director of Asamoah Gyan
Foundation, Gyan Investments Ltd., Baby Jet Promotions, Mama Vits
Investment Ltd, and the spokesperson for Asamoah Gyan. For some curious
reason, the Daily Graphic has resorted to characterizing Samuel Anim
Addo as the errand boy of the Gyan brothers. But I digress.
Samuel
Anim Addo books the rooms in his name, and he allocates them to Asamoah
Gyan's invitees at his discretion. Of course, he also has discretion to
invite a few of his own friends. The core group of invitees congregated
variously at the Shell station at the Tema Motorway roundabout, from
where the team set off, excluding me. I joined them later that night.
The
core group had dinner at the restaurant at Aqua Safari Resort and took
boat rides on the Volta River thereafter. The boats, numbering three
(3), were rented from the resort. The boat rides terminated without
incident at about 10:30 p.m. The core group then proceeded to the
poolside of the resort for a night barbecue, which ran well into the
morning of Saturday 5 July 2014. As is their custom, Asamoah Gyan and
Castro entertained guests at the poolside with live singing
performances.
I
left Ada at 4 a.m. on Saturday 5 July 2014 to attend to a pressing
legal matter in Accra but with the intention of returning later that day
to rejoin the core group at Peace Holiday Resort, located about seven
minutes drive from Aqua Safari Resort.
As
my last statement suggests, the team checked out of Aqua Safari Resort
on Saturday 5 July 2014 and checked into Peace Holiday Resort soon
thereafter. However, as subsequent events would show, the relationship
that weekend between the core group and Aqua Safari Resort did not end
on 5 July.
The
core group spent the better part of the incident-free 5 July at Peace
Holiday Resort, ending the day with a live band party which also
featured, again, performances by the hiplife duo – Castro and Baby Jet
(Asamoah Gyan). I could not rejoin the core group that day as I had
intended. Fate engineered my reunion with the core group the next day
under very grim and unhappy circumstances.
On
Sunday 6 July 2014, the core group had breakfast at Peace Holiday
Resort. Part of the group, including Asamoah Gyan and Castro, took boat
rides to Aqua Safari resort to rent jet skis. The skis were rented by
the individual members from the management of Aqua Safari Resort and
each person was made to sign a generic form that purports to indemnify
the resort against unhappy events that may ensue.
The
jet ski riders did several trips up on the Volta River between Aqua
Safari Resort and Peace Holiday Resort and also circumnavigated the
island overlooking the later resort, which bears its name. All the
riders, including Castro, were provided with and, indeed, wore
contraptions intended as life jackets. Castro wore a bright reddish
colour of the said contraption.
At
some point during the jet ski rides, Asamoah Gyan suggested that the
core group play a volley ball game at the sandy river end of Aqua Safari
Resort. All the jet ski riders of the core group, except Castro,
disembarked at Aqua Safari Resort for the volley ball game. Castro
indicated that he wanted to ride a little bit longer. The other members
of the core group, who were at Peace Holiday Resort, including Baffour
Gyan were called in to join the others at Aqua Safari Resort. They left
in groups of three (3) or four (4) on boats rented from Peace Holiday
Resort to join the volley ball game at Aqua Safari Resort.
Castro
rode for the last time from Aqua Safari Resort to Peace Holiday Resort
where Baffour Gyan and a few others, including Alberta Tetteh, Nana Akua
Ayisi and Janet Bandu were waiting for their turn to take the boat ride
to Aqua Safari Resort.
When
Castro got to Peace Holiday Resort Janet Bandu requested to ride on the
jet ski with him, and he obliged her. While she was climbing on board
Castro's jet ski, Baffour Gyan noticed that she was not wearing a life
jacket. He immediately shot up to his feet and remonstrated with Castro
to ensure that Janet wore a life jacket before setting off. Castro sped
off, as soon as Janet sat behind him, toward the estuary – in the
direction of where the Volta joins the Atlantic. They have not returned,
eighty (80) odd days since they set off.
The
rest of the members of the core group eventually joined the others at
Aqua Safari Resort within the hour. While the volley ball game was still
on, Samuel Anim Addo, was called aside by a staff of Aqua Safari Resort
– who informed him that a call had been placed through to Aqua Safari
Resort from a resort located in the Tsarleykope area that one of the jet
skis belonging to Aqua Safari Resort had been spotted on the Volta
River without its occupant(s). A head count showed that Castro and Janet
had not returned.
Samuel
Anim Addo was invited to join a search party that was constituted by
Mubarak Montia, Adjei Annan, Ernest Doe and Theophilus Doe – staff of
Aqua Safari Resort. One of the crafts the party went with overturned
near the location where the jet ski was found. Thankfully, there were no
injuries or fatalities.
Within
an hour and half of the reported sighting of the unmanned jet ski, I
returned to Ada, by which time the Ada Police, the District Chief
Executive of Ada East District and the Member of Parliament for the area
had been informed of the matter.
Together
with these officials, Samuel Anim Addo and I took charge and we
triggered a comprehensive search and rescue effort operating from the
conference room of Peace Holiday Resort, which was entirely shut down
for the purpose. We called in the Tema Police Command, the Marine
Police, the Navy, planes from the Air Force, local fishermen and
traditionalists. The main search effort continued for a full week.
We
issued two brief press statements on Asamoah Gyan's official website to
confirm the disappearance of Castro and Janet and the efforts being
made to find them.
Since
then the group has cooperated fully with the police in their
investigation. I have personally supervised our involvement in the
investigations.
Wild Allegations and Rumours
When
it became apparent that Castro and Janet had disappeared, an article
appeared on-line which appeared to commiserate with Asamoah Gyan citing
the recent loss of his mother and now the loss of his best friend. One
would have thought that this would have been a point of reference to
console the Gyans – and indeed, a good number of well-meaning persons
expressed this sentiment and sought to encourage us to stand firm. To
the thousands of individuals and institutions that came to our aid and
to offer support, we express our gratitude.
Sadly,
the expression of empathy during a person's moment of grief and utter
dismay does not sell in the media. What sells in the media, and what
indeed sold and is still selling in the media in Ghana are wild
allegations and rumours directed especially at Asamoah Gyan – ranging
from the absurd – of the imputation of criminality to him in the sense
that he either murdered Castro or had him kidnapped – and ending with
the ludicrous – that he sacrificed him spiritually to enhance his
career.
We
have been silent while these wild allegations and rumours have been
peddled in the media. We have been silent not because we are concealing
anything or that we do not feel the need to fully state what, from our
reckoning, had happened in Ada. We have been silent because we did not
want to interfere with police investigations and recently the leveling
of assault charges against Baffour Gyan and Samuel Anim Addo, sealed our
mouths further. Now, we can come out openly because the police have
stated their position and the assault charges against Baffour Gyan and
Samuel Anim Addo have been dropped and they have been discharged. We
will revisit this matter.
In
our painful silence, we have been totally dismayed by the fact that the
platform was provided for the peddling of these wild and ludicrous
allegations and rumours against us. Those to whom the platform was
provided offered no evidence whatsoever to back their statements. And
indeed, the allegation of spiritual sacrifice can by no stretch of the
imagination be propped up.
The
startling development has been the outbursts of persons who should know
better. Indeed, one such person has gone has far as to claim that he
knows where Castro is being kept and that Asamoah Gyan also knows where
Castro is being kept. He also made the unfortunate statement that we
have bribed Castro's family to keep silent over the matter. Castro's
father has publicly denied this. This is no way to treat grieving
families and friends.
If
this person has knowledge of such wonderful information, we encourage
him to report his findings immediately to the police. It will better
serve the purpose of the families of Castro and Janet Bandu. If he has
been unable to do this all this while, then his statements are, to put
it charitably, mischievous or calculated to earn him very cheap
popularity.
Admittedly,
the net effect of the peddling of these wild allegations and rumours is
that the word on the street is that we had a hand in the disappearance
of Castro and Janet Bandu. This is how a person's reputation gets ruined
and this is how disaffection gets sowed in the minds of persons against
the person who is being attacked so unfairly.
Perhaps
we should have come out earlier. But I have already explained why we
could not. Now, we take the opportunity and state without the slightest
doubt in our minds that we are not blamable for the disappearance of
Castro and Janet Bandu. We had no hand in that occurrence. We have no
moral or legal culpability whatsoever. None of us rode out into the open
estuary with Castro and Janet Bandu. Castro rode out there on his own
volition and none of us have the slightest idea as to what happened to
them. We have only been guess working and conjecturing and making what
appears to us to be intelligent deductions – in light of the facts
available to us, especially the fact that when they rode out on the jet
ski Janet Bandu was not wearing a life jacket.
We
do not know Janet Bandu that well. However, we do know that from the
time we met her on 4 July 2014 till her disappearance on 6 July 2014,
she proved herself to be a well mannered and graceful lady. We have no
ill will against her.
We
know Castro all too well. He was our brother. We loved him as one of
our own. We did everything together with him. You are all witnesses to
the hit songs Castro has been featuring Asamoah Gyan on and the added
popularity that gave him. Indeed, the duo were just about to release
another song. We will never do anything to harm him.
We are in unimaginable pain and shock and we will give anything to Castro and Janet back.
