‘Fraudulent, drain on country tag’ gleeful spin – Zoomlion

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Zoomlion Ghana Limited has rejected as gleeful twist and spin reports in the media that the Auditor General described it as fraudulent and a drain on the country.

According to the waste collection company, the description were derived from  a reply by the lawyers for  the Auditor General in response to an appeal filed by it against the Auditor General’s decision to surcharge and disallow payments made to it  in respect of contracts the Company had executed.

The reply on which the report lies, the company said “is at best an expression of opinion by the Auditor General’s Lawyers and not a statement of fact.

“Until the High Court determines otherwise, it remains an OPINION. It therefore lies ill and mischievous in the judgement of any media house to project such an OPINION as accurate and seek to use same as a basis to describe Zoomlion in such objectionable and repulsive terms,” it said.

It added: “We therefore wish to restate our position, that we reject such labels in their entirety and urge the public not to confer any seriousness on such ill-educated publications.”

“We will encourage some of our Media collaborators to be circumspect in their reportage and avoid gleeful attempts to twist and spin delicate matters with the intention to prejudge cases, and court cheap popularity for themselves,” the company said in a statement Thursday.

Below is the full release

Management of Zoomlion Ghana Limited has taken due notice of a publication, circulating in some sections of the media, captured under the banner headline “Auditor-General describes Zoomlion as ‘fraudulent, drain on country’ ”. The story, mainly  emanates from the website – (www.myjoyonline.com), and is replicated on a number of other news portals. The article, purports to derive its content from a reply filed by the Lawyers for the Auditor General in response to an appeal filed by Zoomlion against the Auditor General’s decision to surcharge and disallow certain payments made to Zoomlion Ghana Limited in respect of contracts the Company had executed.

We wish to state that the tone of the publication is laced with mischief, actuated by malice and calculated to lower the standing of the company and injure the hard-earned reputation of Zoomlion.

For the record, Zoomlion Ghana Limited has always co-operated with audits into its operations by statutory bodies. It is common practice, however, for organizations to disagree with the outcomes of an audit report – when they strongly believe that it fails to reflect the reality. Drawing inspiration from the preceding point, Zoomlion Ghana Limited is in Court against the Auditor General. The purported reply on which the (www.myjoyonline) story relies, is at best an expression of opinion by the Auditor General’s Lawyers and not a statement of fact. Until the High Court determines otherwise, it remains an OPINION. It therefore lies ill and mischievous in the judgement of any media house to project such an OPINION as accurate and seek to use same as a basis to describe Zoomlion in such objectionable and repulsive terms. The supplementary reply filed by the Auditor General on April 23, 2019 had not been served on the Company as at May 14, 2019 when the matter was called in Court. We therefore wish to restate our position, that we reject such labels in their entirety and urge the public not to confer any seriousness on such ill-educated publications. 

As a brand which shares a constructive working relationship with the Media across Ghana, we strive to build bridges. We are also not oblivious of the fact that the public has a right to know, and the Media is the channel through which that right is enjoyed. However, we will encourage some of our Media collaborators to be circumspect in their reportage and avoid gleeful attempts to twist and spin delicate matters with the intention to prejudge cases, and court cheap popularity for themselves. 

We wish to reaffirm our belief in the judicial process and we will uphold our position for the entirety of this case. 

Zoomlion remains determined in purging Ghana of filth, and will continue the ambitious drive of providing integrated waste management solutions, and investing heavily to bridge the waste infrastructure gap and create employment

Issued:   15th May,2019

Communication Directorate

Zoomlion

Source: Daily Mail Gh