ALLEGATIONS AGAINST MENSAH FALSE - NMC (P.25) 19-09-08

Story: Kofi Yeboah

THE National Media Commission (NMC) has dismissed allegations made by the New National Democrat in a publication in which the newspaper impugned acts of impropriety against the Director of Research at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr J. K. Mensah.
In a letter dated September 16, 2008, and signed by its chairman, Mr Paul Adu-Gyamfi, the commission dismissed the allegations levelled against Mr Mensah as false.
The Mr Mensah had made a complaint to the commission against the publications in the newspaper but the editor and publisher of the newspaper failed to respond to several invitations extended to them by the Settlement Committee to defend the publications.
“The commission has, therefore, concluded that the allegations of impropriety levelled against you by the said publications were false,” the NMC said in the letter addressed to Mr Mensah.
Meanwhile, the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service has arrested the Editor and Publisher of the New National Democrat, an Accra-based private newspaper, for violating the newspaper registration law.
Sources close to the CID headquarters in Accra told the Daily Graphic that the two, who were arrested last week, are currently on police enquiry bail while investigations continue.
The arrest of Messrs Michael Dokosi and Wisdom Yamenui, editor and publisher of the newspaper respectively, follows a complaint made by the National Media Commission (NMC) to the CID on their alleged breach of the newspaper registration law.
That was after the two had failed to respond to several invitations extended to them by the NMC to defend the allegations made against Mr Mensah in the newspaper, prompting the commission to investigate their background.
Mr Dokosi is alleged to have styled himself as Justice Ofori-Antwi in the declaration made by the publisher on the NMC’s Scheduled Form for the registration of newspapers.
“This makes the declaration regarding the identity of the editor false contrary to section 8(2) of the (Newspaper and Publications) (Registration) Instrument C.I. 39,” the commission indicated in its complaint to the CID.
The NMC also observed that the name of the publisher as contained in the imprint of the newspaper was WWM Publishers, making the declaration that Mr Yamenui was the proprietor false and, thus, breaching section 8(2) of the instrument.
Subsequent to the discovery that the registration of the newspaper was obtained by false declaration, the NMC withdrew the registration of the New National Democrat and informed the publisher thereafter per a letter dated August 28, 2008.
However, the commission noted, on September 1, 2008, the newspaper without any valid registration, continued publication contrary to section 8(1) (a) of the instrument.
It further indicated that the signature of the so-called Justice Ofori-Antwi on letters written to the NMC “are inconsistent and completely different on each occasion”, expressing the belief that they were done with intent to deceive the commission.
Following the withdrawal of the registration, the publisher of the newspaper has applied to the NMC for re-registration of the New National Democrat, submitting that while some of the reasons given by the NMC for the withdrawal of its registration were acceptable, others were factually incorrect.
In a letter dated September 17, 2008, and signed by Mr Yamenui, the management of the newspaper insisted that all the data provided on the publisher for the registration were correct.
“The management on the other hand accepts full responsibility for the lapses identified in respect of Mr Justice Ofori-Antwi, the Editor. His name is Michael Dokosi. Justice Ofori-Antwi is his pen name,” the letter admitted.
It explained that since pen names were a common feature in the journalism profession, the management did not find anything wrong with his using a pseudonym.
“Nonetheless, we wish to apologise unreservedly to the National Media Commission for any inconvenience caused and also resolve to straighten the records and rectify this aspect of the data about our registration,” it stated in a remorseful tone.
That apology notwithstanding, the Executive Secretary of the NMC, Mr George Sarpong, told the Daily Graphic on Thursday that the commission could not act on the letter now until the case at the CID had been determined.
He explained that even the issue of applying for re-registration did not arise in the first instance because once the registration of the newspaper was done with false data it was deemed not to have taken place at all.