Cecilia Dapaah’s lawyer warns Multimedia

• Posted on August 14, 2023August 14, 2023
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

Former Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Abena Dapaah, has issued a stern warning to multimedia group, threatening to sue them for false and misleading reportage regarding her bank account balances.

Dapaah’s legal team, in a letter addressed to the Multimedia Group, expressed their deep concern over the dissemination of untrue information concerning their client.

The letter, dated August 11, 2023, was shared with the media as evidence of the lawyers’ intent to combat what they perceive as erroneous coverage.

According to the legal representatives, on August 8, 2023, the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) filed an application in the High Court, Financial Division, seeking the confirmation of a freezing order on Cecilia Dapaah’s bank accounts.

However, the application failed to disclose specific monetary amounts associated with these accounts.

Despite this lack of specific information, JoyNews reportedly published stories with sensational headlines and claims that were attributed to anonymous, unidentified, and unverified sources.

Dapaah’s lawyers argue that the news outlet continued its reportage based on these unreliable sources, including figures regarding the sums allegedly discovered in her bank accounts. These figures, such as $5 million and GHS48 million, were unsubstantiated and contradicted by subsequent clarifications from the Office of the Special Prosecutor.

In the letter, Dapaah’s legal team cited the OSP’s verified social media handle, which debunked the claims of revealing specific amounts of money in their client’s accounts. Despite this correction, the media outlet allegedly persisted in perpetuating the false narrative.

Dapaah’s lawyers contend that this type of coverage violates the fundamental principle of the presumption of innocence to which she is entitled.

They emphasized the damage caused by these false reports to their client’s reputation and demanded an immediate retraction and apology within three days. Furthermore, they urged the media outlet to utilize the same means and coverage with which the false information was disseminated to make the retractions and apologies.

Failure to meet these demands within the specified timeframe will result in legal action from Dapaah against the media outlet to address the harm caused by the inaccurate reporting.

By Vincent Kubi