Prominent Ghanaian businessman, Ibrahim Mahama, has issued a stern legal warning to investigative journalist, Manasseh Azure Awuni, over claims made in his latest book, "The President Ghana Never Got." In the book, Awuni alleged that Ibrahim Mahama, the brother of former President John Dramani Mahama, was one of the major debtors of the now-defunct Merchant Bank, a claim that has since been strongly contested. According to a letter from Ibrahim Mahama's legal counsel, Bobby Banson Esq., the businessman has never been personally indebted to Merchant Bank or its successor, UMB Bank. Instead, the letter clarifies that the loan in question was taken out by Engineers & Planners Company Limited, a separate legal entity from Mahama, and that the full loan amount of $28 million was paid off in February 2014. The letter also highlights that despite this repayment, the new management of Merchant Bank (later UMB Bank) failed to report the settlement to the Credit Bureau Agencies and the Bank of Ghana. This led Engineers & Planners to file a court action against UMB Bank in 2023, seeking declarations that the debt had been fully paid and that the bank's claims of indebtedness were false. "Ibrahim Mahama has never been indebted to Merchant Bank or its successor, UMB Bank.