5th August, 2015

RE: Assassination attempt is proof Mahama is as great as Nkrumah, JFK

We act as lawyers for the Minister of State at the Presidency, Hon. Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah. We have our client’s firm instructions to issue this statement in response to an online media report published on ghanabusinessnews.com on August 3, 2015 under the above banner headline. (https://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/2015/08/03/assassination-attempt-is-proof-mahama-is-as-great-as-nkrumah-jfk-elvis-afriyie-ankrah/)

The reportage specifically mentioned that our client addressed a gathering of NDC faithfuls in the Ashanti Region where he stated that, “It is a fact that only great leaders are objects of assassination attempts” and that “President Mahama has now joined this elite club of leaders. He is now rubbing shoulders with greats like Kwame Nkrumah, Abraham Lincoln, Patrice Lumumba, and J. F. Kennedy. In fact, the president has to enter the Guinness Book of Records for this achievement.”

We state categorically that:

1. Our Client, Hon. Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, never made such a statement at the said gathering. The entire story and the quotations ascribed to him are totally fabricated since he has not spoken on the alleged assassination attempt of His Excellency the President in any public or private gathering.

2. The reportage is purely borne out of mischief and it is in a profoundly bad taste since it makes allusions to statements that were never uttered under any circumstance or within any context. Our Client takes a strong exception to this kind of unprofessional reportage which is absolutely unethical and abhorrent in journalistic practice.

3. In the light of the foregoing, our Client demands that the story be pulled down from the website and an unqualified apology rendered to him in no uncertain terms and with the same prominence with which the false story was published.

4. While it is the firm conviction of our client that freedom of speech must be protected and guaranteed as enshrined in our Constitution, he will not tolerate any attempt, overtly or covertly, that is calculated to publish non-existent, concocted stories about him. Hence, our Client will not hesitate to use the law to seek redress if the above-mentioned remedial conditions are not met by ghanabusinessnews.com within the next twenty-four (24) hours.

AB & M Legal Consult
Quartey-Papafio Avenue
Airport Residential Area
Accra