Just as the Akan adage has it that “efie biaa, Mensah wo mu” to wit, “there is a bad nut in every home”, so it is the case that the journalism profession in Ghana is home to some people who are in it not to because they want to broaden the frontiers of the profession, but because they want to broaden the frontiers of their shameful cheap-money-making extortionist and blackmailing agenda.

Even though stories abound as regards the blackmailing and extortionist agenda of some journalists, oft times, there isn’t too much evidence to expose such miscreants hence their getting away with their despicable acts.

Unfortunately for a certain Prince Prah, who works for Ken Kuranchie’s Daily Searchlight, his cup got full and run over last week when he exposed himself as being one of the “Mensahs” in the journalism family.

This Prince Prah character, who has made it his modus operandi to fabricate stories and call his to-be victims and force them to give him money to kill such fabrications, hit a dead end when he attempted to practice his stinking extortionist act on Deputy Chief of Staff, Alex Segbefia.

Ken Kuranchie’s Prince Prah, as is the corporate culture of the Daily Searchlight, concocted a story about Mr. Segbefia using state resources to build a mansion at Tesano.

Having met Mr. Segbefia and realizing that the Deputy Chief of Staff was not about to be run for cover because he was doing nothing untoward, Prince Prah then decided to throw his blackmailing card on the table.

As is the norm in the blackmailing and extortion act of Daily Searchlight’s Prince Prah, realizing that Mr. Segbefia was not going to pay for the story to be killed because there was no need so to do, Prince then decides to pretend to be doing Mr. Segbefia a favour and asks for “something small to shut up on the story”.

Below is the unedited txt message sent to the Deputy Chief of Staff by Ken Kuranchie’s Prince Prah:

“The investigation team has decided to kill the story based on security implication your house may have if we made known your house to the public domain. Will be pleased if you will give the team something small to shut up on the story. Thank you sir”.

If this txt message from the office of Ken Kuranchie’s Daily Searchlight is not a message to extort monies from Mr. Segbefia, then we are asking Ken Kuranchie to tell the whole world what the message was meant for.



This same Prince Prah who, is Ken Kuranchie’s star reporter and darling boy, is reported to have tried a similar extortion trick on Dr. Hannah Bisiw, Deputy Minister for Water Resources Works & Housing.

Indeed, I have picked up very credible information to the effect that the selfsame Prince Prah once attempted to get close to Defence Minister, Lt. General J.H. Smith, in order to launch his blackmail and extortion “missile” on the retired Army General.

The retired General was however able to smell the enemy miles away and is reported to have repelled Prince Prah even before he could launch his extortion and blackmail missile.

Again, the same Prince Prah, is the shameless agent that disgraced and dismissed army officer, Col. Kwadwo Damoah was using to put out silly stories about Lt. General Smith, Maj. General Anyidoho, Lt. Col. Gbevlo Lartey, Lt. Col. Attachie and other celebrated officers of the Ghana Armed Forces.

When the likes of Raymond Archer and Anas Aremyaw Anas are prepared to risk their lives to investigate serious matters, the likes of Ken Kuranchie’s Prince Prah want to make money the easy way by fabricating stories about politicians and blackmailing them to part with huge sums of money.

And considering the fact that in spite of the strong evidence that Prince Prah is engaged in the business of blackmail and extortion, Ken Kuranchie tried to defend the indefensible on Asempa FM last Friday, it would not be far-fetched to presume that the Managing Editor of the Daily Searchlight is himself an accomplice to blackmail and extortion agenda of his employees. A case of ‘Like father, like son”.

It is very interesting that while Ken Kuranchie junkets around radio stations pontificating and very often coming out with extremely illogical arguments to make himself relevant in the political and journalistic equation, his Daily Searchlight office is a major hub for training journalists in the despicable art of blackmail and extortion.

Of course, with Francis Poku no longer around to throw national security monies at Ken Kuranchie, it is not surprising that blackmail and extortion are tools being used by the paper to keep body and soul together.

It is ipso facto that assigns of the Daily Searchlight are in the business of blackmailing and extorting monies from government officials and no amount of white paint can remove the black spot on Ken Kuranchie and his Daily Searchlight paper.

Nana Biakoye