Multimedia Group, owners of Joy News, have issued a statement in response to the recent demand for a retraction and an apology from former sanitation minister Cecilia Dapaah, over an alleged misreport.
The Group asserted that there was no ethical or professional wrongdoing in their coverage of the issues concerning her frozen bank accounts in the midst of her alleged stolen money worth millions of dollars and cedis from her private residence.
The media station reported about an alleged transaction linked to two of Cecilia Dapaah's bank accounts in the ongoing investigation by the Special Prosecutor (OSP).
Their report disclosed that two of the former minister’s accounts contained a total of US$5 million and 48 million cedis, representing the cumulative value of transactions evaluated by the OSP investigators.
This revelation prompted the former minister to request a retraction and an apology from the news outlet, claiming that the said reportage was false and had no facts.
In response to her demands, the channel through their legal representatives emphasized that the reported figures were grounded in the factual context of the ongoing criminal investigation.
They argued that the said figures accurately represent the transaction values associated with the bank accounts in question and are integral to the OSP's application for a court-issued freezing order.
“We are instructed to reply to your letter on the above subject as follows: 1. That the complained reportage, regarding said two figures (amounts), are based on facts in the matter, the subject of said criminal investigations.
“2. That said amount, as duly clarified in specific publications by our client, represents the value of transactions on those bank accounts over a period, the subject of an application by the OSP for confirmation of a freezing order in court.
“Staff of our client will continue, in the public interest, to exercise their profession pursuant to editorial policy and the Constitution of Ghana,” a press statement from the firm said.
Cecilia Dapaah has since July 22 resigned her ministerial position and has been arrested and released on bail by the Special Prosecutor after a search was conducted at her residence.
The Special Prosecutor, Kissi Agyabeng, and his team further initiated a corruption and corruption-related investigation against Madam Cecilia Dapaah following the alleged theft case.
Following from that, the OSP fond some amounts of monies from her Abelemkpe residence and has taken steps by freezing certain bank and investment accounts of the former minister, for which the OSP is seeking a confirmation order from the High Court in Accra.
However, lawyers of the embattled minister have told the High Court that monies found in the Abelemkpe residence of their client do not mean, she owned them.
The lawyers of Cecilia Dapaah led by Sam Okudzeto had threatened to take legal action against the media house if it fails to issue a retraction on the publications in question within three days.
Read the full statement below:
AM/SARA
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