Journalists Demand C50million Bribe To "Kill" Story

The Kumasi Waste Management Limited (KWML) is now caught up in a massive bribery scandal involving a group of journalists, led by a Ghana Institute of Journalism lecturer, who apparently set out to expose the cowboy company. The journalists who investigated the alleged bad and corrupt practices of the KWML threatened to expose the company which was found to be woefully overcharging the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly.

Investigations by THE STATESMAN revealed that, in a bid to kill the story, both parties agreed for a sum to be paid to the journalists. But it was the amount demanded by the journalists - ?50 million which appears to have scuppered the whole deal, exposing the non-ethical practice of the journalists and the company contracted to keep the Garden City clean.

The journalists who claim to be members of a group calling itself the Federation of Environmental Journalists have allegedly advised the management of KWML to pay each person of the 23-member investigation team an amount of four million cedis, according to Lt Col (Rtd) Dartey, the Operations Manager of the KWML.

When the Statesman contacted Lt Col Dartey, he sought to distance himself from the deal, but explained that he took over the affairs of the company not long ago and could not have any prior knowledge of any alleged criminality on the part of the KWML to overcharge KMA for managing the city’s rubbish.