We write in response to the story on the above subject published in the DAILY GUIDE edition of Friday November 2, 2012, and on your website www.dailyguide.com.

The story presented a gross misrepresentation of the facts. We therefore request that in the interest of fairness and balanced journalism, you publish this rejoinder both in the DAILY GUIDE and on your website, with the same prominence you gave the original story.

The objective of the Hitmaker show was to support the music careers of the winning contestants in a way that would help them achieve artistic success and sustainable economic empowerment.

In all our dealings with the contestants of the show, we made it clear to them that the prize for winning would be the investment of stated amounts of money in their music careers – to support the production, promotion and marketing of their albums. This was clearly stated in the terms and conditions of the project and accepted by the contestants, production house and all relevant stakeholders.

In line with this stated objective, following the final event, MTN requested that the winners work with their preferred producers to prepare and submit artiste management proposals for MTN’s review.

We have had discussions with the artistes and their preferred producers and they have submitted proposals that are currently under review. Indeed both winners and all relevant stakeholders have expressed satisfaction with the process so far.

Once the contracts are finalised, MTN will proceed to disburse the monies to the production houses, and the winners can begin production.

Quite recently, in response to an appeal by the two winners, we made a decision to disburse 10% of the value of the prizes to the winners, to enable them take care of some personal needs; however this was not part of the original proposal and was done on purely humanitarian grounds. The remaining amount will be invested in their music careers as originally planned.

MTN Ghana has invested heavily in this property and we remain fully committed to our promise of economically empowering musicians in a sustainable manner.