Cocaine Claim: Joy FM Lawyers Ambush “The Herald”

Corporate Legal Concepts, lawyers of Mr. Kwasi Twum, the Chief Executive Officer of Multimedia Group Limited and owner of Joy FM, one of the most popular private radio stations in the country, are threatening to drag The Herald to court.

In a letter to The Herald and signed by Shadrack Arhing as managing partner, and received on Friday, 18th of March, 2011, Corporate Legal Concepts are demanding a retraction and apology, within 24 hours on receipt of the letter, to the lead story of The Herald’s Monday, March 14-Thursday 17, 2011 issue, headlined: “Joy FM Owner Also A Cocaine Dealer…..Drowning Kennedy Agyapong Drops Names”.

According to the letter, The Herald’s story and the headline intimated that Mr. Kwesi Twum was engaged in the illicit business of cocaine and that he had “built up the multimedia group through such illicit activity.”

The letter, which was delivered to The Herald late Friday evening, said the story which was also carried on the paper’s website, too, noted that dealing in narcotic drug is an internationally abhorred criminal activity, carrying severe sanctions worldwide, and that Ghana imposed “severe custodial sentences against perpetrators of such acts.”It said that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Assin North, Kennedy Agyapong’s claim, no doubt, “caused not only serious embarrassment to our client, but also exposed him to public ridicule, odium, calumny, vilification and traducement on the minds of average reasonable men.”

The lawyers asserted that Mr. Agyapong’s claim, which was captured in The Herald, was “totally false and unwarranted” since their client had never been or would ever be “engaged in any illegal activity such as cocaine trading,” and that the “slightest checks” on the claim, would have “satisfied that the story is comprehensively false.”

“The damage you have caused to our client is immeasurable and cannot be compensated for in monetary terms” said the lawyers, demanding a retraction of the story and an apology to Mr. Twum within 24 hours on receipt of their letter, because Mr. Agyapong’s claim had no basis.

They warned that should The Herald fail in retracting the story as false and apologizing to Mr. Twum within 24 hours on receipt of their letter, they would have no other option but to go to court and seek redress; and, “we will demand not only apology of the statement but also substantial damages, cost and ancillary reliefs,” it said.

Meanwhile, the story in question was culled from “Kukrurantunmi,” a Saturday socio-political programme aired by Asempa FM 94.7, a member of the Multimedia Group Limited, of which Mr. Twum is the CEO. It is hosted by Kwabena Bobie Ansah.

Readers will recall that The Herald, in the said story, indicated that it had made several attempts to get to Mr. Twum concerning the story, but failed. Indeed, the paper talked about how Mr. Twum does not use a mobile phone except a fixed phone in his office said to be within the Trust Towers building in Adabraka-Accra.

A lady by the name Samira, supposedly one of Mr. Twum’s secretaries, whom The Herald got on phone number 0302228854, was given The Herald’s Managing Editor, Larry-Alans Dogbey’s cell phone number to be given to Mr. Twum for a conversation regarding the matter of his reputation being tarnished by the NPP MP.

However, Mr. Twum never called back.

According to the Managing Editor, in the late afternoon of Friday (18th March, 2011), he had a call from a reporter of Joy FM, Ms. Araba Coomson, concerning the story and a supposed ultimatum given by Mr. Twum to The Herald to apologize and retract the story.

Subsequently, his conversation with the reporter was carried in the 6 o’clock news bulletin of that day on JOY FM.

Immediately after the news, 6.58, precisely, the Managing Editor received a call from a gentleman who had his mobile phone number concealed.

The caller, who claimed he was a messenger of a human resource manager of Asempa FM, demanded to know the location of The Herald’s office, and this was provided him.

The Managing Editor said he saw two letters from Mr. Twum’s lawyers on the table of his office at about 10 pm of the same day (Friday, 18th March, 2011).

The letters, apparently, were delivered shortly after the telephone call which was precipitated by the news item carried on Joy FM’s news broadcast.

Meanwhile, the letters were dated 17th March, 2011, implying that the 24-hour ultimatum given The Herald to publish a retraction of the story and an apology to Mr. Twum, had long elapsed.

Hence the paper, according to them, has violated the ultimatum given to it, and stands to face the wrath of Corporate Legal Concepts acting on behalf of Mr. Twum.

* Editor’s Note and Apology*

The Herald, as can be deduced from its conduct regarding the story in question, is not motivated by any desire to cause mischief and hurt the person of Mr. Twum, but was only out to draw his attention and that of his loved ones, to a serious allegation being made by Mr. Agyapong, who himself had widely been accused by others, and carried in the media, as a drug baron, but has never availed himself of any effective mechanism to debunk the accusation and hence restore his image.

Since we have no basis to accuse Mr. Twum of dabbling in cocaine business, but were only referring to what Hon Kennedy Agyapong said, we distance ourselves from Mr. Agaypong’s claim which was published on Monday, 14-Thursday- March 17, 2011, headlined “JOY FM OWNER ALSO A COCAINE DEALER, “ and also apologise profusely for any damage it might have caused to the image of Mr. Twum.