People in the showbiz sector, particularly the musicians, live in their world where they think they must make headlines for one thing or another to attract the attention of the rest of the world.
It is, therefore, not wrong in itself for Ghanaian reggae and dancehall artiste Shatta Wale to try to gain such attention.
However, Shatta Wale, known privately as Charles Nii Armah Mensah, is in the news for only controversial acts, acts that disturb the peace of individuals, an organisation or society.
For instance, at the 2019 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards,Shatta Wale and militants of his so-called Shatta Movement rushed onto the stage when Stonebwoy, another artiste, was about to receive his award for being declared the Reggae/Dancehall Artiste of the Year, apparently for not winning the award himself.
Shatta’s misconduct caused the organisers of the Awards, Charter house, to strip him and, unfortunately, Stonebwoy of the awards they won on the awards night and ban the two, a decision that caused uproar in the country.
In fact, the Ghanaian Times can mention some artistes and others Shatta Wale has had confrontations with as Iwan, Samini, KwawKese, Sarkodie, Aisha Modi, Mark Okraku Mante, VGMA and 3Music.
In all these, Shatta Wale was let off the hook and so he has grown wings, living in the false impression that he is untouchable as he can do what pleases him and only him alone without thinking of the repercussions of his actions on the rest of the society.
Currently, the whole Ghana Police Service has mounted a search for Shatta Wale in a bid to arrest him to assist the police in investigations following an alleged shooting attack on him.
This follows a viral video on social media which claimed that Shatta Wale had been shot by unknown gunmen and was in critical condition at a hospital.
The police say they would not rest on their oars but be proactive in the dealing with such issues to ensure there is peace and stability in the country.
Meanwhile, the Ghanaian Timeshas gathered that Shatta Wale has taken to his social media platform to apologise to the public that he feigned the gun attack on him.
If this is the case, then Shatta Wale must not be let off the hook.
His act constitutes public deception, which could have caused fear and panic among a section of the public, particularly members of his own movement and other fans.
Besides, it must be treated with any law available that he created a hoax and the police, not knowing that, have moved state machinery to try to come to his aid to protect him from his supposed unsuccessful assailants who must be prevented from following up their threat to kill him.
Shatta Wale has caused the police to waste precious time and state resources to do a wild goose chase, which in itself means he does not take the police seriously and did not care about wear and tear of state machinery used in unprofitable endeavour.
The artiste’s own admission to feigning the attack on him implies that he is guilty of his reckless or thoughtless act and so must be charged.
The likes of Shatta Wale, whether in showbiz or another sector of the economy, must not be treated with kids’ gloves but must be given the deserved punishment else the country would end up raising a beast who would devour the rest of the people.
