Edem Mensah-Tsotorme has rated Shatta Movement Empire’s (SME) apology to persons living with disability.

“I’d give it four or five” out of 10, “because even though they responded, [they left out] one key pillar,” he said.

The entertainment journalist and pundit observed SME left out “remorsefulness” in their apology, “and that takes a lot away from it – that would have won a lot of hearts for them”.

“If that key ingredient is missing, it can’t be a pass for me,” he explained.

Although SME’s statement, signed by Shatta Wale’s manager Sammy Atuobi Baah, alias Sammy Flex, promised mindfulness of words and actions in the future, Mensah-Tsotorme said it was not enough because “they did not acknowledge they had committed a mistake”.

In that case, he asked, “how do we make corrections going forward?”

“You don’t clearly admit to wrongdoing but you are using ‘maybe’ and trying to be semantic and if you do not acknowledge a problem, it’ll be difficult to solve it. I mean, that’s the missing link for me,” the Spectator newspaper writer asserted.

You “reduce offensiveness by appreciating the situation of the offended party,” he had earlier said, cautioning: “Else, your communication will be received as noise.”

He was speaking to Prince Benjamin (PB) on Accra 100.5 FM’s Entertainment Capital programme, Saturday, April 20, 2024.

A public relations consultant, Mensah-Tsotorme, however, commended SME’s “effort” responding to concerns raised about Dancehall artiste Shatta Wale’s mockery of a person living with disability, his archrival Stonebwoy.

“They could have chosen to ignore the matter, and even though it could go against the brand, and said: ‘Whatever would come should come’ but they reflected and decided to respond by saying: ‘We are sorry’,” he noted.

Edem Mensah-Tsotorme empathised with Sammy Flex defending his artiste amidst heavy media and public criticism. However, he advised SME not to sacrifice relationships and alienate people while on defence.  

He stressed the need to “buffer and at the same time bridge,” explaining that buffering is protecting your personal interests while bridging is being sensitive to and maintaining cordial relationships with external entities.

On April 15, 2024, the Ghana Society of the Physically Disabled decried Shatta Wale’s "primitive" comments about Stonebwoy’s disability in his right leg, caused by a 2003 accident, and corrected by surgery in Germany in 2016. It also warned the singer his actions were an offence under the laws of Ghana per the Disability Act 715. 

In reaction, SME’s apology, dated April 18, explained Shatta Wale’s mockery of Stonebwoy, “may have been misinterpreted”.

“The intention behind the statement” made on the Salla Fest stage, April 11, 2024, “was not made to mock or belittle individuals with disabilities, but rather to emphasise the importance of Stonebwoy acting right and treating others with respect at all times”.

Shatta Movement Empire conceded “the wording” of Shatta Wale’s “statement may have been insensitive” and noted it appreciates the “value and respect the contributions and rights of individuals with disabilities in our society”.

Meanwhile, Edem Mensah-Tsotorme holds a Masters in Public Relations & Marketing from the University of Media, Arts & Communication's Institute of Journalism (UniMAC-IJ).