The Publisher and Managing Editor of The Analyst, the Liberian newspaper which first broke the news that Ghana?s stability was being threatened by mercenaries hired from the sub-region to attack the country, has defended why his paper published the story.
Speaking in a telephone interview yesterday, Stanley Seakor said they took the decision to publish the article because Liberians consider Ghana as a true friend, for the help that since the NDC days to date Ghana has rendered their country to help her come out of the civil strife that blighted the country, at least, since 1989.
His paper, therefore, felt, they owed it to the people of Ghana to publish intelligence reports that sought to suggest that Ghana?s stability was under some considerable threat. Ghana?s Defence Minister, Dr Kwame Addo-Kufour disclosed yesterday that the intelligence services are studying the report. He was, understandably, not too happy with yesterday?s local newsbreak.
Several local commentators have criticized The Statesman and Free Press for breaking the story in Ghana. Speaking on an Accra based radio station, the NDC?s Elvis Afriyie Ankrah and NPP?s Andy Appiah-Kubi both described the reports as ?irresponsible.?
Peace FM went as far as to telephone Monrovia for verification, with one freelance journalist confirmed that there are reports of mercenaries some as young as seventeen being recruited for a rebel attack in Guinea. He, however, said, he had not heard about the alleged recruitment for an attack on Ghana. The Monrovia-based freelance journalist told Kwame Sefa-Kayi that The Analyst was a reliable newspaper in his country, suggesting that the report could not be lightly dismissed.
However, both at the end of the article and on radio yesterday, Seakor said his paper could not vouch for the authenticity of the article since it was submitted as an ?advertisement.?
Source: GhanaWeb
