A former flag bearer hopeful of the People's National Convention (PNC), Mr Asaki Samson Awingobit, has advised Ghanaian celebrities to hire lawyers as part of their team and seek legal guidance from them before embarking on any project to avoid getting on the wrong side of the law.

His counsel comes after dancehall artiste Shatta Wale was granted bail Tuesday morning, 26 October 2021, when he appeared in court after being held in prison custody for a week in connection with a hoax shooting incident on his birthday, 18 October 2021.

He was arrested on 19 October 2021. 

His accomplices include Kojo Owusu Koranteng, Idris Yusif, and Eric Venator.

They have been charged with abetment of crime while Shatta Wale has been charged with causing fear and panic.

The hoax shooting incident coincided with a prophecy given by a pastor popularly known as ‘Jesus Ahuofe’.

Speaking on the Class Morning Show (CMS) on Tuesday, 26 October 2021, Mr Awingobit said: “What I’ve observed [about] the celebrities is that they have people who brand them, doing their PR work in the media to get people to follow them but I think they don’t have personal lawyers so that if they come to a roundtable to discuss [issues, they’ll advise them]”.

He explained: “You can’t tell me what Shatta Wale did wasn’t planned. It was a well-planned thing with his team but I’m sure if they had a lawyer there, they would have asked the lawyer’s opinion before blasting what they blasted on social media and I’m sure the lawyer would have advised them not to do this. If you do this, this will be the legal implication.”

“I want to advise my brother and sister celebrities: they are doing so well but they should be able to engage lawyers so that anything they want to do, their lawyers will advise them … if they don’t have lawyers, they should not wait until they have problems before hiring lawyers … but we are all praying that at the end of the day, the justices of the court or the judges will temper justice with mercy and probably ask him [Shatta Wale] to go and sin no more,” Mr Awingobit said.