Our attention has been drawn to the news article published by the "The Herald" newspaper in its edition of 28 June, 2013, which claimed that “Izwe Loans and Financial Services Ltd boss, Alfred Delali Dagadu and his wife Naomi Minkah, a Sales Executive Officer of the company, have been declared wanted by The Bureau of National Investigations (“BNI”) for fraud”. The management and directors of Izwe Loans Limited (“Izwe”) wish to place on record that Izwe is not in any way implicated, directly or indirectly, in the allegations made against Mr. Dagadu and Ms. Minkah. At no stage did The Herald contact Izwe to verify the facts contained in the article or offer Izwe the right of reply.

Izwe strongly refutes the claim by The Herald newspaper that Mr. Dagadu is the “boss” of Izwe. Mr. Dagadu is not a director, manager or “boss” of Izwe and has never held any of these positions at Izwe. Ms. Minkah is not a “Sales Executive Officer”, director or manager of Izwe and has never held any of these positions at Izwe. It is true that the two individuals mentioned in The Herald article did perform certain tasks for Izwe during 2012, in their capacity as independent contractors. However, their contracts terminated and they have no current involvement with Izwe in any capacity.

Izwe is not aware of any fraud committed by the aforementioned two individuals, nor has it been contacted by the BNI regarding any investigation of said individuals. Izwe has nevertheless contacted the BNI and received full assurances from it that steps will be taken to correct the distortion created by The Herald’s article.

Izwe notes with grave concern the reckless journalism by The Herald newspaper, which tarnishes the good reputation of Izwe by associating Izwe’s name with these allegations without seeking clarification from Izwe. Neither Izwe nor its employees are connected in any way to the allegations made in The Herald newspaper. As such, Izwe has demanded from The Herald an immediate and unconditional retraction of the published article and an unqualified apology, which is to be published with the same prominence as the article. Izwe is also seeking legal advice from its lawyers on the remedies available to it for this egregious conduct by the Herald and reserves all of its rights under the circumstances.

Samuel Yeboah

Director Izwe Loans Limited