Media Commission settles dispute

Accra (Greater Accra), 17th June 99

The National Media Commission on Wednesday said it has reached an amicable settlement over a complaint lodged by the First lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings against the Ghanaian Chronicle, a private newspaper.

In the settlement agreed to by the parties, the Ghanaian Chronicle would carry a retraction of allegations it carried against the First Lady with the same prominence as it had accorded the allegations.

In a statement issued in Accra, the Chairman of the Commission, Mr Tim Acquah-Hayford, explained that the complaint lodged by Nana Konadu arose from allegations made in the 'Baywatch' column of the paper's January 22 to 24 edition.

"The columnist, Dr Asebu Amenfi, alleged, among other things, that Nana Konadu had a row with the late Peter Vaughan-Williams, Founder and Chairman of the Council for Indigenous Business Associations (CIBA)."

He alleged that the row was over "CIBA money, which, Vaughan-Williams had refused to hand-over to the 31st December Womens' Movement (DWM) of which Nana Konadu is President".

The columnist also alleged that for the ''unusual display of obstinacy'' Vaughan-Williams lost his post as Deputy Minister in the National Democratic Congress government.

The statement said the First Lady denied, in her complaint through the Vanderpuye Law Consult, "ever having a row with Vaughan-Williams and demanding any CIBA money for the 31st December Women's Movement".

It said, "she also denied knowledge of the reasons for which Vaughan-Williams ceased to be a Deputy Minister" and demanded ''strict proof of the allegations from the Editor and Publisher of the Ghanaian Chronicle as well as the Columnist of "Baywatch".

The Commission said during its deliberations with the parties concerned, it found that the allegations could not be substantiated.

Consequently, the Editor and Publisher, Nana Kofi Koomson in addition to the retraction of the allegations, agreed to issue an unqualified apology to Nana Konadu and avoid future publication of libellous materials against her.

The Editor, Mr Ebo Quansah also gave an undertaking to crosscheck all doubtful materials with the office of the First lady before publication.

The Commission expressed its gratitude to the parties involved, especially, the complainant for their co-operation.

It requested others with media complaints to use the platform available at the Commission for the resolution of their grievances.