Political talk shows or radio programmes in Ghana cannot end without phone in segments, where the audience or listeners are allowed to call in to either contribute to the discussion or make an intervention.
Sometimes, when these callers manage to be on air, their submissions are entirely different from what is being discussed on the radio. It is as if they have an agenda they want to propagate.
The callers manage to trumpet the same message on all the radio programmes that they speak on.
In a viral video sighted by GhanaWeb, a popular serial caller known as Abrewa and calls normally from Bubiashie, a suburb in Accra, narrates how they are he goes about his ‘trade’ of calling into a radio station and speaks for his political party.
He stated that for the past twenty years, calling on radio stations has been his stock-in-trade, since he cannot operate his taxi business again because of political victimisation.
“I walk around with 15 mobile phones and a power bank but I use 14 in calling the radio stations. I arrange the phone on a table, then I begin to dial the numbers of these radio stations – just like typing on a computer.
“If one of the calls goes through and I’m not yet on air to speak, I put phone [which has gone through to the station] on loudspeaker then I switch to the other phones while dialling the numbers of other stations. This is to hijack the studio lines…I have 15 mobile phones but I use 14 in calling the radio stations. I use the power bank in case there is light out, I can use it in charging the phones,” Abrewa narrated in the video.
He indicated that he calls at least eight radio stations a day without any sponsor but they get their reward when they are on the air and decide to greet either the President, a minister, an MP or any party executive.
“I have been speaking on the radio for the past 20 years. With these 20 years of experience, I have met so many ‘big’ men. So, when I call into a radio station and I say ‘let me greet Sammy Awuku or any other person,’ it is for a reason. When I greet them, they know the reason; definitely, they need to credit my mobile money, momo, account so that we can use it in buying airtime; at least I must have GHC50.00 airtime on the phones,” he stated.
When asked about the work he does, Abrewa respond, “I am unemployed.”
He stated that he is only able to cater for his family through the favours he gets for his ‘hard work’ of calling into a radio station.
“I was a taxi driver but because of politics, my car was taken from me. So, for now, I don’t work, the only work I do is to serve my party by calling the radio stations.
Watch below the modus operandi of serial callers.
Source: www.ghanaweb.com
