Africawatch magazine lied – Presidency

The Presidency has vowed to deal with the editors, publishers and distributors of the Africawatch Magazine for publishing a story against President Nana Akufo-Addo which it (Presidency) believes contains “manufactured lies.”

It would be recalled that the Magazine carried in its June 2019 edition a story headlined: “The Inside Story of the Oslo Scandal: Conspiracy To Steal.”

The story apparently sought to implicate President Akufo-Addo in the Oslo Chancery scandal in which the Minority National Democratic Congress in Parliament had alleged that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration had tried to spend $12 million to buy a building in Norway which in 2017 was priced at $3.5 million.

However, government in 2018 denied that it was seeking to spend such an amount on the chancery as alleged by the Minority Ranking Member for the Foreign Affairs Committee, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa.

Surprisingly, Africawatch Magazine came out in June 2019, ‘linking’ President Akufo-Addo to the scandal.

But the Presidency in a statement signed by its Director of Communications, Eugene Arhin, said “the allegations in the publication are baseless, libelous, and scurrilous, and contain nothing but manufactured lies.”

It said “we are aware of this magazine’s notoriously established agenda of defaming the President through deliberate publication of such false stories about him.”

In 2016, it would be recalled, Africa Watch reported that Mr. Akufo-Addo was suffering from cancer or kidney problems.The report turned out to be false.