By Daniel Bampoe
A widening crisis at the Minerals Income Investment Fund (MIIF) has now spilled into the security and law enforcement space, after the Fund’s Chief Executive Officer, Justina Nelson, formally petitioned the Inspector-General of Police, Christian Tetteh Yohuno, triggering police investigations into journalists who have published reports on MIIF’s governance and financial controversies.
What began as a dispute over MIIF’s 2024 audited financial statements has escalated into a national scandal involving criminal investigations, civil litigation, media freedom concerns, and allegations of institutional intimidation, placing the country’s sovereign minerals fund at the centre of an unprecedented confrontation between state power and the press.
From Audit Controversy To Police Intervention
Sources close to the matter indicate that Justina Nelson’s petition to the IGP followed months of critical media reporting on her leadership of MIIF, particularly over three major issues:
MIIF’s refusal to release its 2024 audited financial statements,
the Fund’s attempt to secure a re-audit and restatement of already signed accounts, and investigative stories alleging governance failures and institutional interference in the audit process.
After the petition was lodged, the Ghana Police Service activated the Special Operations Assistance (SOA) unit under the IGP’s office to begin investigations into what Nelson described as “false, malicious and coordinated publications” targeting both her and the state fund. Some journalists were therefore summoned to the Criminal Investigation Department headquarters for the probing.
Police sources confirm that the focus of the investigation is not on MIIF’s financial records themselves, but on alleged malicious publication, coordinated disinformation, and reputational harm, effectively shifting the controversy from financial accountability to criminal and reputational liability.
The MIIF chief executive has already hauled some journalists to court for alleged defamation of character.
Journalists Summoned, Interrogated By Police
As part of the police action, senior editors and journalists have been summoned for questioning.
The editor of the New Crusading Guide, Ernest Addo, responded to a police invitation on 11 February 2026, appearing before the SOA unit together with his lawyer, Egbert Faibille Jr., and the newspaper’s founder and managing editor, Kwaku Baako Jr.
On 24 February 2026, broadcast journalist Wilberforce Asare was interrogated at the Police Criminal Investigation Department (CID), where he spent approximately two and a half hours responding to questions.
His lawyers, Dame and Partners, had earlier secured a copy of the petition in advance of his appearance.
These interrogations have drawn widespread concern within media and civil society circles, with critics warning that police involvement risks criminalising journalism rooted in public-interest reporting.
Allegations In The Petition
In her petition to the IGP, Nelson reportedly accused the journalists and editors of orchestrating a “persistent, false, malicious and coordinated campaign” against her and MIIF, alleging that the publications began shortly after her appointment as CEO on 15 January 2025 and intensified over time.
She claimed the reports undermined public confidence in MIIF, damaged her reputation, and caused her personal and professional distress.
The petition further accused Wilberforce Asare of allegedly demanding the publication of MIIF’s 2024 financial statements and requesting that she either publicly credit a former administration or pay GH₵100,000 to halt further coverage—an allegation she described as extortion and unethical.
She claimed the coverage subjected her and her family to anxiety, public hostility and reputational harm.
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