NMC gives Kojo Yankson, Multimedia 7-Day ultimatum

The National Media Commission (NMC) has given the Multimedia Group and host of Joy FM morning show, Mr. Kojo Yankson, a 7-day ultimatum to respond to a complaint of ‘false claims and defamation’ made against them by Mrs. Marietta Brew Appiah Oppong, the Attorney General and Minister for Justice.

According to the Commission, this is, as required by law, to enable it “make a determination towards resolving the matter”.

Below is the full text of NMC’s letter to Multimedia:

COMPLAIN AGAINST THE HOST OF THE JOY FM MORNING SHOW, MR KOJO YANKSON AND THE MULTIMEDIA GROUP LTD

Please find attached a copy of a complaint brought against Mr. Kojo Yankson and Multimedia Group Ltd by Mrs. Marietta Brew Appiah Oppong, Attorney General and Minister for Justice. Indications are that Mrs. Marietta Brew Appiah Oppong has already served you a copy of this same complaint. We would, therefore, be grateful if your response could reach the secretariat within seven (7) days of the receipt of this letter to enable the Commission make a determination towards resolving the matter. Please note that the seven day period is a requirement as stated in the Legislative Instrument (LI 1587) of the Settlement Procedure. Thank you. Yours faithfully, Signed Alexander Bannerman Deputy Executive Secretary

AG’s Complaint to NMC The AG has decided to drag Kojo Yankson and owners of Joy FM to the NMC after the Joy Morning Show host made comments she describes as false on air following a conversation she had had with him.

In a complaint sent to the NMC, dated January 21, 2016, the AG stated: “Joy FM broadcast and published an untrue statement calculated to mislead the listening public, as well as broadcast and published defamatory words” about her for which she is demanding a retraction and apology. “The statement broadcast by Kojo Yankson and Multimedia Group Ltd has caused me considerable embarrassment. I am therefore humbly requesting the Media Commission to direct Kojo Yankson and the Multimedia Group Ltd to apologise and retract the false statements made by them and give an undertaking not to repeat the words complained of,” the AG stated.

In giving a background on the issue in a letter to the NMC, the AG said “On January 12, 2016 after a Press Conference by His Excellency the President of the Republic of Ghana at the Flgstaff House “a gentleman walked up to me and asked me about the specific law under which the Government of Ghana was keeping the two detainees of the US government from the Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba”.

She said she told the said gentlemen to speak to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration on the matter, adding that person in question neither introduced himself, nor did he indicate that he was an employee of Multimedia Group or state that he was conducting an interview, but subsequent events pointed to the fact that the gentleman in question was Mr Yankson, the host of the Super Morning Show.

She said during the January 13, 2016, edition of the Joy Super Morning Show programme, Kojo Yankson and Multimedia Group broadcasted and published words which were misleading and calculated to mislead the public. The AG has quoted Mr Yankson as saying that “I just want to share a piece of information from yesterday. Actually, I have been thinking about whether to share but I think I should because it wasn't given to me in confidence. I walked up to the Attorney-General and asked her this same question: Under what law can we stop these two individuals if they decide that at any point they want to live elsewhere and are leaving before the two years is up?

“She told me that she was not involved in these arrangements and that if I wanted to know, I ought to speak to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that dealt with this matter.'

“She, the Attorney-General, the lawyer of government, was not involved in the arrangements. I mean I wasn't speaking to her off record, so I feel absolutely fine sharing that the A-G of Ghana was not involved.”

Yankson’s Plea fails The Catalyst has stumbled on impeccable information that indicates that Mr Yankson tried very hard to persuade the AG through other people to rescind her decision of dragging him to the NMC but failed. It seems however that there is a deliberate effort to rally support for the Multimedia journalist in the media.

Paul Adom Otchere wades in On his Good Evening Ghana show yesterday, Paul Adom Otchere spent a substantial amount of airtime in putting up a spirited defence for the beleaguered Yankson, claiming that the decision by the AG to drag him to the NDC amounts to intimidation of a journalist, a logic that was disputed by many who bombarded him with an avalanche of comments via text message and Facebook.