H.E. ALHAJI ALIU MAHAMA vs. THE ENQUIRER NEWSPAPER [2011]DLNMC6253

Date	2011-03-01
Suit No.
Citation No.	[2011]DLNMC6253

[2011]DLNMC6253
																																						<div class="restriction-wrapper">
														<div class="container-lg">
															<div class="row">
																<div class="col-md-12 restricted-content">
																	<div class="restricted-content-img-wrapper">
																		<div class="lock-icon bounce-7">
																			<img class=""
																				src="https://www.dennislawgh.com/dl-assets/dl-images/lock-content.png"
																				alt="Subscription based content">
																		</div>
																	</div>
																	 
																		<a href="https://www.dennislawgh.com/login"
																		class="btn btn-primary btn-lg"
																		style="font-family: 'open sans'; text-transform: capitalize; border-radius: 8px"> 
																		Login to Read Full Case </a>
																	 
																	
																</div>
															</div>
														</div>
													</div>
													<main id="main" class="content" style="min-height: 60rem" >H.E. ALHAJI ALIU MAHAMA<o:p></o:p>vs.<o:p></o:p>THE ENQUIRER NEWSPAPER<o:p></o:p>[NATIONAL
MEDIA COMMISSION]<o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in">

(2011) NMC DLR 002&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; DATE: 1 ST MARCH 2011<o:p></o:p>

</div>DECISION
GIVEN BY: <o:p></o:p><div style="mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.5pt;
padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in">

AMBASSADOR
KABRAL BLAY-AMIHERE (CHAIRMAN NMC)<o:p></o:p>

</div>In
its November 5th to-8th, 2009 edition, the Enquirer in a front page story
headlined-<o:p></o:p>“
CASTLE PEACOCKS WHISKED AS EX-GRATIA------Aliu Mahama and Nana Ama Kufuor
mentioned&amp;quot;, reported that the former Vice-President of the Republic of
Ghana, Alhaji Aliu Mahama on the eve of the exit of the NPP administration from
the Castle took away many of the ornamental birds without asking permission.<o:p></o:p>In
his complaint to the Commission, the former Vice-President stated he had
neither taken nor instructed any person to take any peacocks from the Castle
Gardens or anywhere in the Castle as alleged by the Enquirer story and
considered the said publication &amp;quot;grossly negligent, false and
malicious&amp;quot;<o:p></o:p>Although
a copy of the complaint was duly served on the Editor of the Enquirer<o:p></o:p>Newspaper,
the editor failed to submit his comments in consonance with the NMC<o:p></o:p>Complaints
Settlement Procedures Regulations, 1994 within the stipulated seven days and
also faired to attend summoned meetings for settling the matter.<o:p></o:p>The
Commission in its investigation of the complaint and issues raised thereof, concluded
that the Enquirer did not adhere to the principle of fairness as enshrined in the
Code of Ethics of the Ghana Journalists Association which states under Article
l(iii) that &amp;#39;A JOURNALIST SHOULD MAKE ADEQUATE INQUIRIES AND
CROSS-CHECK<o:p></o:p>HIS
OR HER FACTS.<o:p></o:p>It
is only by this process that the public&amp;#39;s right to &amp;quot;unbiased,
accurate, balanced and comprehensive information&amp;quot; outlined in the same
article under the caption; PEOPLE’S&nbsp; RIGHT
TO TRUE INFORMATION can be achieved.<o:p></o:p>

The
NMC rules that it is the professional obligation of the Enquirer to retract its
one- sided story and apologise to the complainant.<o:p></o:p></main>