SUSTINERI
ATTORNEYS
2nd Floor, Yellow Building Passion Hill Street, Ogbojo-Accra Digital Address: GM-025-1882
Box MD 2540, Madina
+233(0)3025538921+233(0)243717144
Info@sustineriattomeys.com
www.sustinerlattomeys.com
10th January 2025
The Editor
www.ghanaweb.com
Accra
Dear Editor,
DEMAND FOR A RETRACTION AND AN UNQUALIFIED APOLOGY FOR FALSE AND DEFAMATORY PUBLICATION
1. We represent and hold the firm instructions of MR. SHARAF MAHAMA (“our client”) and write to you regarding your defamatory publication concerning our client.
2. Our client is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Legacy Rise Sports, a premier sports event management and promotion agency that organizes world- class sporting events in Ghana.
3. Also, our client is the founder and Executive Chairman of the Sharaf Mahama Foundation, a non-governmental organization committed to promoting the well- being of the underprivileged in the areas of education, health, and sports.
4. Our client’s attention has been drawn to a publication on your website (www.ghanaweb.com) on 10 January 2025, with the headline “Sharaf Mahama ‘clashed’ with Kurt Okraku after Ghana lost to Angola in Kumasi-Atta Poku alleges.”
5. We are informed that the publication has been widely shared and circulated on various news portals and social media platforms, including Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and X (formerly Twitter).
6. In the said publication, you reported that one Collins Atta Poku, holding himself out as a sports journalist, recently disclosed details of an alleged confrontation between the Ghana Football Association (GFA) President, Mr. Kurt Okraku, and our client, which is said to have occurred following Ghana’s loss to Angola in the 2025 African Cup of Nations qualifiers.
7. Furthermore, the publication alleges that our client, in a state of considerable agitation, proceeded to express his grievances to Mr. Kurt Okraku regarding the team’s performance and, in doing so, “stormed the dressing room, took pictures and expressed his displeasure with him over the team’s terrible performance.”
8. The said publication in its entirety is totally contrived and false as our client was never present at the said football match and/ or had any confrontation or “clash” with anyone in such regard.
9. This publication by you is not only defamatory but malicious and vexatious, as you knew and/or ought to have known that there was no factual basis whatsoever for same.
10. We find that the said publication is deliberately calculated to smear our client’s hard-earned reputation in the eyes of right-thinking members of society and subject him to public opprobrium.
11. Your publication was meant to be understood, and it was, in fact, understood to mean that our client is an arrogant, divisive, and lawless individual who could unlawfully barge into the dressing room without any proper authorization and proceed to disrespect and insult the Ghana Football Association (GFA) President, the players, and the supporting staff present.
12. In the circumstances, we are instructed by our client to demand from you, which we hereby do, that you unreservedly retract the said publication and render an unqualified apology to our client within 24 hours upon receipt of this letter by making three (3) consecutive publications on www.ghanaweb.com and thereafter cease forthwith from publishing or causing to be published, circulated and/or otherwise distributed same or similar publications about and/or in any other manner concerning our client.
13. Be advised that should you fail to comply with this request, we have our client’s clear instructions to commence legal action against you and shall demand from you general and exemplary damages for defamation of character and the cost of legal action, including legal fees.
14. It is our hope that you will comply with this request forthwith and will not underestimate our resolve to vindicate our client’s reputation and integrity.
15. The undersigned, who can be reached on 0243717144 and via email at richard@sustineriattorneys.com, holds instructions for the conduct of this matter and should be contacted regarding the contents of this letter.
Yours in the Interest of Justice,
Richard Nunekpeku
SUSTINERI ATTORNEYS PRUC
2nd Floor, Yellow Building Passion Hill Street Ogbojo Accra
CC: MR. SHARAF MAHAMA
