Online portal, News Ghana, has retracted a recent misleading news report authored against Justina Nelson, the acting CEO of Minerals Income & Investment Fund (MIIF), and rendered an unqualified apology for any reputational damages caused.

News Ghana recently published an article titled ‘US$60M Scandal Rocks Ghana’s Mining Sector’, which contained several unsubstantiated allegations against MIFF and the recently appointed CEO of the Fund.

According to the portal, upon further review they discovered their allegations were ‘inaccurate and misleading’.

“Our reporting did not fully reflect the facts and may have unfairly misrepresented her actions and intentions,” they said. “We deeply regret any distress or reputational harm this publication may have caused Ms. Nelson,”

Justina Nelson has been facing a series of fabricated and somewhat politically motivated hit pieces in various Ghanaian newspapers and media portals, following the recent announcement of an investigation into the Fund by the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP).

The investigation, largely targeted at dealings that occurred under the leadership of former Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Edward Nana Yaw Koranteng, was in relation to payments made to Agyapa Royalties Limited, Small Scale Mining Incubation Programme (SSMIP), Quarry Value Addition Programme (QVAP) and Asante Gold Corporation.

These unsubstantiated publications sought to smear the acting CEO with the sins of the past administration, and like the News Ghana report, were a deliberate attempt to tarnish the reputation of the new MIIF CEO.

News Ghana, in their retraction and apology, noted that claims Justina Nelson had illegally moved money around at MIIF were not the true reflection of what transpired.

“We acknowledge that Ms. Nelson acted within the law per her response to the request made by the whistleblower and that our reporting failed to provide a balanced and objective account of the situation,” News Ghana wrote.

“We sincerely apologize for any confusion, misunderstanding, or damage our article may have caused to her and the Minerals Income and Investment Fund,”

Justina Nelson suffered irreparable harm due to the false allegations against her and an apology from News Ghana, while a step in the right direction, is only the tip of the iceberg. Several other outlets ran the half-baked and malicious report, and any ethical journalists upon examining the facts should follow suit and retract and apologize to Nelson, who has only been in office at MIIF for a month and has so far, only carried out her duties with exemplary dedication, professionalism and with full adherence to the laws and constitution of Ghana and the laws governing MIIF.

By: Chris-Vincent Agyapong Febiri–the author is a Ghanaian-British writer/journalist and a Human Rights Lawyer based in the UK.