Edem Affram: My Reputation is of Value To Me

The Editor,

The Ghanaian Chronicle,

Accra. 

RE: Bizman petitions Interior Minister to probe INTERPOL Ghana

I take strong exceptions to portions of a front page story your newspaper published under   the   above   headline   that categorically   accused   me   of   using   INTERPOL Ghana to settle a supposed personal score with a former business partner of mineyour paper named as Charles Oppong Kyekyeku. 

It is absurd and ridiculous to impute that INTERPOL Ghana would compromise onits world class professional standards and allow itself to be used by a   private citizen to settle personal scores. 

Such baseless claims has not only thrown my name out to the public as a bad person but could seriously damage the reputation of the mentioned unit of the Ghana Police Service in question. 

I am surprised a newspaper would believe such a claim and even go ahead to publish it as a front page story without bothering to even balance the story from the side of INTERPOL Ghana or at least cross check from me, the accused person as the ethics of the job demands.

I also find very offensive and injurious to my reputation, another portion of the same story in your newspaper that accused me of attempting to extort money from this same former business partner your paper mentioned.

This one sided narrative that makes me look bad while portraying my accuser as an innocent victim who has done no wrong but is being investigated by the Ghana Police for no reason, further accused me of running my mouth and throwing my weight about that I  have links to persons in high places.

For   the   records,  I   am  not   an   extortionist and   the  impression   your   news  story painted to the world about me is wrong. 

I have no powers to get investigative officers abuse their office and compromise on their professional standards of work just for my personal interest.

I   am   aware   the   Financial   Forensic   Unit   (FFU)   is investigating the person you mentioned in the story but it does not lie in my mouth to put out in the public domain the issues for which he is being investigated. 

I am sure the investigative unit in question has  a Public Relations outfit that could give such details when contacted through appropriate means.

I would ignore the political slant in the said story. There is an incident report, from managers   of  the estate   in   which  I stay,   that   gives  details of the  arrest  of   the intruders who used subterfuge and broke the laid down security protocols in an attempt to enter my residence for suspicious reasons. 

I  am  a  private   business person  not  interested  in  drama, negative  attention  and avoidable noise. 

My reputation is of value to me and my business and I am therefore offended that some people would resort to this trial by media tactics, using your newspaper, to portray me as a bad person.

As the ethics of your job demands, I request for a retraction and an apology of the said portions of your publication that has falsely told the whole world I am an extortionist who uses INTERPOL to settle personal scores. 

I need not remind you that the republication of a defamatory material is equally defamatory and actionable.

Thank you. 

SIGNED

Edem Affram.