POWA calls for removal of Blakk Rasta from radio over sickle cell comment

Progressive Organisation for Women’s Advancement (POWA) is calling for the removal of radio personality, Blakk Raska, for abusing former Deputy Minister for Communication, Victoria Lakshmi Hamah.

Blakk Rasta on his Facebook wall described Victoria Lakshmi Hamah as “sickle cell brain-diseased” person after she threatened to sue him for mentioning her name in a post by IMANI Ghana boss Franklin Cudjoe.


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POWA in condemning his comment describes the use of sickle cells disease as insensitive and an affront to persons living and suffering from the sickle cells disease.

In a statement copied to GhanaWeb, it states “POWA in no uncertain terms considers the discriminatory use of sickle cells disease as an abusive attack on Victoria Lakshmi Hamah by Blakk Rasta as insensitive and an affront to persons living and suffering from the sickle cells disease. His comment clearly demonstrates his overly callous and inhumane view of people living with the sickle cells disease.”



Below is the full statement:

POWA Condemns Blakk Rasta for the Discriminatory use of Sickle Cells Disease as an Abusive Attack on Victoria Lakshmi Hamah and calls for his Removal from Radio

It has come to the shocking notice of the Progressive Organisation for Women’s Advancement (POWA) about a statement made by Blakk Rasta, a popular radio host on social media describing Victoria Lakshmi Hamah, a former Deputy Minister for Communication and the Executive Director of the Progressive Organisation for Women’s Advancement, as “sickle cell brain-diseased”.

POWA in no uncertain terms considers the discriminatory use of sickle cells disease as an abusive attack on Victoria Lakshmi Hamah by Blakk Rasta as insensitive and an affront to persons living and suffering from the sickle cells disease. His comment clearly demonstrates his overly callous and inhumane view of people living with the sickle cells disease.

According to the World Health Organisation over 4 million people globally are living with the sickle cells disease and the year 2015 recorded an estimated whopping 114,000 deaths around the world.

The devastating impact that this condition has on sufferers, as well as their families, is not one that should be trivialized in any way.

POWA reiterates that all forms of discriminations are linked. An attack on sufferers of sickle cells disease is as unjustly as any form of racism, sexism, xenophobia and discrimination against persons with disabilities.

The media is a very powerful structure of our social fabric and must be used responsibly. Thus, it behooves on media personalities to act in utmost sensitivity and decorum to ensure the cohesiveness of our society.

Therefore, POWA takes serious exception to the discriminatory use of sickle cells disease as an abusive attack on Victoria Lakshmi Hamah by Blakk Rasta and therefore calls on all progressive and right-thinking Ghanaians to swiftly condemn his careless and inappropriate comment about the sickle cells disease.

NB: Attached is a screenshot of the comment made by Blakk Rasta on sickle cells disease.

Signed:
Victoria Lakshmi Hamah
Executive Director

Cc:
Sickle Cell Foundation of Ghana

Ghana Coalition of NGOs in Health (GCNH)

The National Media Commission

The Ghana Journalist Association

Ministry of Gender and Social Protection

Ministry of Health

Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ)

Media Foundation for West-Africa (MFWA)