Lawyers for former Minister for Sanitation and Water Resources have demanded retraction and apology from Multimedia and Ghanaweb for publishing what they described as ‘misleading’ and false bank accounts of their client.
In two separate letters to the owner of Multimedia, Mr. Kwasi Twum and Mr. Ismail Akwei of Ghanaweb, the lawyers, Sam Okudzeto Associates, stated that “We are by this letter demanding that your outfit retracts the false information it has published and apologizes to our client within three (3) days from the delivery of this letter (using the same means and coverage with which you published the false information), failing which we have our client’s firm instructions to institute legal action and bring the full force of the law to bear-on your outfit for the damage and injury your reportage has caused and keeps causing.”
The letter to Multimedia outlined in part, what the lawyers described as false publications.
“On 8th August 2023, the Office of the Special Prosecutor (hereinafter referred to as the ‘OSP’) filed an application in the High Court, Financial Division to confirm among others, a freezing order regarding our client’s bank accounts.
“Although, the Application did not disclose any specific amounts of found in the bank accounts, your news outlet, JoyNews published information about the amounts in those accounts while information to nameless, unidentified and unverifiable sources.
“Specifically, at about 12:30pm on 10th August 2023, your outlet published a story titled ‘OSP tracks $5m, finds GH¢48m in Cecilia Dapaah’s Prudential Bank accounts’.
“Within that story, your outlet proceeded to publish that; sources at the OSP had disclosed amounts of money in the frozen bank accounts of our client and mentioned that other monies had been found in another account.
“Again, at about 2pm, your outlet shared multiple stories titled ‘Joy News Prime / / Cecilia Dapaah Case: OSP tracks 55m in total bank transactions over a period’ and ‘JoyNews Today // OSP finds $5million and GH¢48millicn in Cecilia Dapaah’s bank accounts’ on the social media platform YouTube,
“Not only had the OSP not disclosed any amounts found in our client’s accounts, but the assertion that our client’s accounts contain $5m and GH¢48m is false.
“Indeed, at about 4pm of that same day, 10th August 2023, the Office of the Special Prosecutor via one of its verified social media handles ‘Office of the Special Prosecutor— Ghana, @ospghana” rebutted and dispelled claims that it had revealed any specific amounts of monies found in our client’s bank accounts.
“Despite this rebuttal, at 7pm of 10th August 2023, your outfit continued to post material alluding to the false statement that $5m and GH¢48m had been found in our client’s bank accounts.
“From the foregoing, it is evident that your-outfit’s consistent reportage of our client’s matter has been steeped in the purported reliance on information from unidentified sources and a reckless disregard for truth and accuracy.
“The figures you have been publishing about the sums in our client’s bank accounts are false and you have continued to push these falsehoods that you attributed to unidentified and unverified sources.
“It is apparent that your outfit’s coverage and publications are actuated by malice and a deliberate/reckless attempt to impute wrongdoing to our client contrary to the constitutional and time-honoured principle of the presumption of innocence she is legally entitled to.”
A similar was written to Ghanaweb, demanding the retraction and apology within three days or face legal action.
