Investigative Journalist, Manasseh Awuni Azure, has been caught seeking to whittle down a retract and apologize request by Ibrahim Mahama over the former’s publication alleging that Ibrahim Mahama was indebted to Merchant Bank, leading to the financial struggles of the Bank and its subsequent sale.
Portions of Manasseh’s book, ‘‘the President Ghana Never had’’, alleges that Ibrahim Mahama was among Merchant Bank’s big debtors at the time it was sold to its current owners, owing to the bank’s financial struggles.
However, in a letter to Manasseh, Lawyers of Ibrahim Mahama noted that such publication was untrue, stating that Ibrahim Mahama, in his personal capacity, has never been indebted to Merchant Bank, or its successor UMB Bank.
The Statement further clarified that it was Engineers and Planners, the company owned by Ibrahim Mahama, a different legal entity from the person of Ibrahim Mahama, which took the loan facility.
Drilling into the substance of the issue, the statement/letter further noted that in February 2014, an amount of $28 million was paid by Engineers and Planners Company Ltd. to Merchant Bank, in full and final settlement of the loan amount, a development which UMB has admitted to in a subsequent statement of Defence.
The Lawyers further demanded Manasseh to within 7 days, upon receipt of the notice, retract the said publication from the book and apologize to Ibrahim Mahama, failure of which could compel them to seek legal redress.
Responding to the development on his X account, Manasseh noted, in part, that: ‘‘His Lawyers say it was a company owned by Ibrahim Mahama, Engineers and Planner, which owed the bank, not Ibrahim Mahama. I have forwarded their demands to my lawyer and the matter will be addressed soon.’’
Manasseh’s response, which flagrantly ignores the substance of Ibrahaim Mahama’s demand appear to have enraged some netizens. One of such comments was by one Alex Kwaku Asafo- Agyei, who attached the letter by the Lawyers of Ibrahim Mahama and urged Manasseh to read the Statement again.
Other comments which expose Manasseh’s reductionist attempt have herein been shared:
