The ‘New Force’ group the originators of the ‘Man in Mask’ campaign have refuted claims by independent Presidential candidate aspirant, Sam Ankrah, that he is the originator of the campaign.

“We wish to state categorically that the said Sam Ankrah has no connection to the creative concept design, and inventive process that developed the “Man in the Mask” campaign,” the originators of the campaign said in a statement issued on Monday, 20 November 2023.

The originators who condemned the independent presidential candidate aspirant for claiming the campaign to be his, stated: “We are disappointed that Mr Sam Ankrah has sought to deliberately exploit the ingenuity of young Ghanaians and coopted their vision and creativity to project dubious political ambitions.” 

They described the independent candidate aspirant's conduct as “reprehensible and evidence of lack of credibility that undermines him as a person as well as someone capable of leading a new political vision for a country that is in need of a clean break from the kind of dirty politics we witness on a daily basis.”

The originators disclosed their team of lawyers will be filing “a complaint with the Electoral Commission” against Mr Ankrah for violating Section 6 of the Political Parties Act 2000 (Act 526), as his conduct constitutes an offence under the Act, and makes him liable to be punished with a term of imprisonment not exceeding two years.

“We reserve our right to consider civil action against him for infringement of our intellectual property rights including our right over the original artistic and creative works,” the originators of the campaign stressed.

The originators also demanded that Mr Ankrah immediately “cease and desist from any further use reproduction, redistribution, or modification” of their intellectual property,  while requesting that he deletes “the images on all his platforms and put up an “appropriate statement apologising for the infringement immediately.”