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General News of Friday, 23 September 2011

Source: Republic Newspaper

Baby Ansaba Again Concocts another Story

As he claims his informant is a friend of the IGP, National Security Advisor and JJ Rawlings

It appears Ebeneza Ato Sam, aka “baby Ansaba”, the Editor of the PUNCH Newspaper would never grow up. He is always in the news for a bad reasons; concocting stories to blackmail prominent people and doing the hatchet job for people who wants him used. has become his hallmark.

Having worked as a Journalist for more than a decade, the only time he got praised for doing the good job was when he confessed that he was used by certain prominent individuals in the past NPP regime to slay the diamond character of President Mills, then leader of the opposition NDC.

Before then, he was notorious for manufacturing non-existed stories about opposition figures for nasty reasons and allegedly for money.

But just when everyone thought Baby Ansaba has repented, he has metamorphosed into another Oregon with a cooked story.

Last week Tuesday December 20th Baby Ansaba carried a badly written disjointed but fake story with a very catching headline “Terror @ Polo Court, President’s Man Pulls Gun”.

The story suspected to be another dirty mission for a powerful man in the current administration seemed to suggest that Consul Alfred Agbesi Woyome, Chairman, the Governing Board of the Board for Small scale Industries (NBSSI), a business man and an NDC stalwart had pulled a gun to terrify two workers of G4 security (G4S) who mans the Polo Court Estate, a private residential apartment at the Airport West behind Woolworth and Imperial Chinese Restaurant in Accra. However less than 24 hours after he published and sold the story with his newspaper, “Babe Ansaba” told The Republic that he was misled by his informant whose identity he pleaded we should withhold for confidential purposes. Knowing his penchant for lies, The Republic followed up on Baby Ansaba’s lids and was shocked when the woman he mentioned as giving him the story, denied being the source for The Punch”.

According to Mrs Alberta T. Quatey, “that man from Punch (referring to Baby Ansaba) called me and said he heard a story about an altercation involving a castle man…, he went on and said he knew me and that I worked at the commission “ Mrs. Quatey further said that Baby Ansaba on another occasion called her and said he was at the premises of the Polo Court and wanted to see her but she turned down his request and told him there were visitors with her.

Baby Ansaba also confessed to The Republic that he doubt if Alfred Woyome was carrying a gun or had pulled a gun at that material time.

According to him “I personally called him before the story and he responded, but I had already sent the front page for publication so we could not change the headline after we learnt the real truth of the matter.”

“The one who pulled the gun is supposed to be one of the police men, not him” he said.

“it is not true he picked a gun and if you read the body of the story that is not in it. But the headline was already gone. I have never known Alfred Woyome to be a violent person, so if you may want to highlight that for me” he said categorically.

Asked why he did not wait to carry a proper investigation before the story, the Punch Editor said; “you are a journalist and you know it when powerful sources are pushing a story”, admitting, that may be their (Punch) ‘short-coming’. “it is a technical problem and I am thinking of correcting the wrong impression we carried about Mr. Woyome and apologising to him”

But Baby Ansaba who sounded apologetic, continued that Alfred Woyome was his personal friend. “I cannot damage him, except that the forces were such that I couldn’t do anything about it”, confirming he is not authority on his own paper. A check at the Airport Police station by The Republic also denied that Baby Ansaba was ever at the Police station.

The Director of Investigations at the Airport Police Station, Inspector Anyidoho was surprised to hear a claim of a gun being wielded during the incidence, sighting that the accused persons, who had allegedly assaulted the police officers in the company of Mr. Woyome, did not mention any gun in their statements.

BIOGRAPHY OF Ebeneza Ato Sam aka (Baby Ansaba)

Originally, he is called Ato Sam who worked for the Free Press in the 1990s. His unorthodox and criminally oriented working style made him swindled bishop Annor Yeboah of the Christ Apostolic Church of his car and money. When the case erupted following a commission setup by the late Tommy Thompson to investigate allegations against him he was found guilty of professional misdemeanour and dismissed from the Free Press.

That nonetheless, he was alleged to be extorting money from people until he was engaged by daily guide from where he used the opportunity to attempt swindling the National Security Co-ordinator Francis Poku.

He was simultaneously relieved of his post as an Editor of the Daily Guide. To appease him it was alleged the National Security Coordinator Francis, Poku known for his generosity, offered him money to set up the Puch.

Nonetheless he has never refrained from his unprofessional behaviour in planting stories on personalities with the view to extorting them.

The Ghana journalists Association conferred on Ato Sam, aka Baby Ansaba the Vulture Award for being the most denigrated Journalist of the year.