$125,000 Scandal- Pratt Feels The Heat

As the story of arguably the most scandalous allegation that has hit the profession of journalism in the country, involving a ‘senior journalist’ who is accused of having received a colossal amount of $125,000 rages on, the Daily Guide can report that the allegation has taken turns and twists. Sources allege that the life of the lady in whose house the money was allegedly kept on behalf of the recipient has been threatened, and she is reported to be living in fear. This came to light last Saturday on News file, a Joy Fm programme where critical issues are discussed by a panel of journalists. Meanwhile, Mr Ben Ephson, managing editor of the Daily Dispatch, yesterday told Joy fm on their 12 noon news bulletin that before the week ends, “a name and a face” would surface, to give the story more credence and substance. According to Ephson, Mr Harruna Attah’s (editor of the Accra Daily Mail) reputation is on line and there is mounting pressure on him to speed up his investigations and come out with additional information. Explaining further, Ben Ephson told the radio station that the likelihood of the newspaper naming names is real. The Daily Dispatch editor noted that the house of the person where the dollars were allegedly kept is a member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC). “Would you be surprised that the money was kept in the house of a top NDC person”? he told the interviewer. However, new dimensions are being added daily to the story, which was first broken by the Accra Daily Mail (ADM). The latest being that the money involved is much more than was originally bandied about. Mr Ben Ephson told Joy fm yesterday that when he heard the story, the amount mentioned was $150,000 and ¢70 million, and not $125,000 and ¢5 million as originally published by the ADM. He emphasized that Mr Haruna Attah is not shying away from dropping names of the personalities involved, but is budding his time to do a thorough investigation before breaking the full story. In a related development, Mr Kwesi Pratt Jnr. Editor of the Insight, who claims e is the senior journalist’ being referred to because of descriptions and allusions from certain persons in media circles, has once again been reacting to the story.