Media General and the host Onua Maakye, Godsbrain Kwadwo Smart, popularly known as Captain Smart ‘hot’ as Hubtel, a leading Ghanaian payment service, has officially demanded a public retraction and apology.
Captain Smart, on his Onua Maakye show, alleged that an amount of $25 million was transferred from the accounts of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to Hubtel’s account for use in political campaign activities associated with the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) and its flagbearer, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
According to Captain Smart, the former Managing Director of ECG, Samuel Dubik Mahama, refusal to comply with this directive led to his removal from office. He further alleged that the funds were eventually transferred to Hubtel and withdrawn to finance the political campaign of Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.
In response, lawyers for Hubtel, Beyuo, and Co, issued a letter dated November 26, 2024, addressed to Media General and Captain Smart. The letter categorically denied allegations, describing them as false, malicious, and defamatory.
Their letter read, “Our client maintains that not only are the said statements by Captain Smart false, but also, they were maliciously published by him without any knowledge or evidence that they are true”.
Hubtel further reiterated it has no political affiliations and that Vice President Dr. Bawumia holds no legal or beneficial interest in the company.
The payment service has outlined clearly their demands to Media General and Captain Smart, they are demanding a public retraction of the defamatory statements on the same Onua Maakye platform where the allegations were made, a written apology from Captain Smart and Media General within seven days of receiving the letter and archiving of the apology letter on Media General’s website for public access.
Meanwhile, should the Media General and Captain Smart fail to fulfill their demands within seven days, Hubtel has indicated its intention to pursue legal action.
