Solicitors for Minority leader, Haruna Iddrisu and Ranking Member on the Finance Committee of Parliament, Cassiel Ato Forson, have given The Herald Newspaper up to 6th September 2021 to retract its Friday, September 3 publication that accused the two MPs of bribery.
A letter from the law firm, Law Trust Company, demanded the newspaper publish a withdrawal of the publication and render an unqualified apology to its clients on or before the 6th of September, 2021.
According to the lawyers, the article with the caption, ‘CSO names Hurana Iddrisu and Ato Forson in GNPC bribery scandal was vicious, malicious and libellous falsehood to their clients.
“Should you fail to publish a withdrawal of the said publication and render an unqualified apology to my clients, on or before the 6th of September, 2021, I have their further instructions without recourse to you, to commence legal action against you and your publishers to redeem the image of my clients,” parts of the letter reads.
Read the full text of the rejoinder below:
SCANDAL- REJOINDER
I act as Solicitor for and on behalf of Hon. Haruna Iddrisu, the Minority Leader in Parliament and Hon. Ato Forson, Ranking Member of the Finance Committee of Parliament and MP for Ajumako-Enyan-Esiam Constituency (my clients) and I have their instructions to write to you in respect of the above reference matter.
My clients have drawn my attention to a bold banner headline on the front page of the Friday, September 3, 2021, edition 088/21 of THE HERALD newspaper with the caption “CSO NAMES HARUNA IDDRISU & ATO FORSON IN GNPC BRIBERY SCANDAL …As Government Sponsored trip to America breaks NDC front in Parliament.”
The ensuing article, which appears on pages 3 and 4 of your newspaper, you caused to be published and circulated vicious, malicious and libellous falsehood of my clients.
In the said article, you sought to portray that my clients arranged a meeting between the Executive Secretary of Alliance for Social Equity and Public Accountability (ASEPA), Mr. Mensah Thompson of the one part and agents of Aker Energy and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation of the other.
You further sought to suggest that my clients impressed upon Mr. Mensah Thompson to give the Agents of Aker Energy and GNPC a hearing by doing their bidding.
I am instructed by my clients to put on record that nowhere and at no time did they facilitate any meeting between Mr. Mensah Thompson of the one part and Aker Energy and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) of the other, leading to some monies exchanging hands over the USD$1.65 billion oil block transaction. My clients deny every allegation of facts contained in the said publication.
I would have thought that a paper of such standing would have approached my clients for their side of the story and to verify the truth or otherwise of the story before gleefully going to the press without reference to my clients.
It is regrettable to state that you breached the ethics and laid down procedure in journalism by failing to contact my clients to ascertain the veracity of the said allegation before going ahead to publish same.
It is evident from the publication referred to that they were made recklessly and maliciously without regard to the truth, with vicious intent to destroy the hard earn reputations of my clients and to bring their name into disrepute, ridicule and public hatred.
I am by this letter demanding and this I hereby do that you publish a withdrawal of the publication referred to above and render an unqualified apology to my clients on or before the 6th of September, 2021. This rejoinder should be published in the same position and given equal prominence as the publication complained of in your paper.
Should you fail to publish a withdrawal of the said publication and render an unqualified apology to my clients, on or before the 6th of September, 2021, I have their further instructions without recourse to you, to commence legal action against you and your publishers to redeem the image of my clients.
I hope you would comply with the demand of my clients to avoid any embarrassment.
Yours faithfully
JAMES MENSAH KULLEY ESQ
LEGAL PRACTITIONER
LAW TRUST COMPANY
#27 CASTLE ROAD
ADJACENT HOLY SPIRIT CATHEDRAL
OPPOSITE NATIONAL ARCHIVES
DABRAKA-ACCRA
