Ghanaian and Sierra Leonean Journalists recount their QNET VCON Malaysia Experience
“We all had all manner of issues with QNET until we had the opportunity to travel to Malaysia and scrutinise the brand for answers to a lot of questions that bothered on scam, fraud and illegal migration
QNET, a global lifestyle and wellness focused direct selling company has organised a special media webinar bringing together about 43 journalists from Ghana and Sierra Leone. Titled “QNET VCON Media Webinar: an interactive info-sharing session”, the event’s main objective was to spread the real and authentic news about QNET and demystify the negative connotation associated with the brand. The event brought together, journalists from many media organisations and other journalists who have visited the head office of QNET in Malaysia and have attended the company’s global conference christened the ‘VCON’.
In a welcome address read on his behalf, the Regional General Manager for QNET, Mr. Biram Fall highlighted the reason for the webinar: “This forum is designed for you, our media friends, to familiarise yourselves with our brand. We are making it possible for those who have attended our annual global VCON in Malaysia to share their experience, first-hand with you. As part of our media engagement commitment, we continue to organise special media junkets to enable journalists from Sierra Leone, Senegal, Ghana, Togo and Nigeria to witness and experience QNET at our global conference, the VCON, in Malaysia. These journalists have seen and experienced everything about our company and they are in a very informed position to retell the wonderful story of their encounter with QNET.”
Seasoned journalists from Ghana and Sierra Leone such as Mr. Ranger Kef, Editor of the Calabash Newspaper, Mr. James Kamara-Manneh of A-Z Newspaper, Mr. Fred Smith of Joy News, Mr. Jeorge Wilson Kingson, Editor of Ghananewsonline.com.gh, Mr. Bernard Yaw Ashaiadey, Senior Journalist with Business and Financial Times, Mr. Samuel Bio, Night Editor of the Daily Graphic, Mr. Kenneth Awotwe-Darko of Joy FM, Ms. Ama Cromwell of Adom FM and myjoyonline.com, who were on the QNET Media junket to Malaysia, visited the company’s head office and attended the VCON shared their experiences.
According to Bernard Ashaidey, a senior journalist at Business and Financial Times, Ghana’s leading business newspaper, “We all had all manner of issues with QNET until we had the opportunity to travel to Malaysia and scrutinise the brand for answers to a lot of questions that bothered on scam, fraud and illegal migration. Personally, I wanted to understand the company and know if it was a fraud or not. Contrary to widespread belief that the company does not exist, it actually exists and has been operating for 26 years now. I doubt any company can keep up a fraudulent front for such a long time. Besides, I got to see the head office, interact with top management and ask them critical questions. They explained their business model and their commitment to ethical best practices in the direct selling industry.”
Mr. Fred Smith, a Health News Editor at Joy News, a leading television network in Ghana, corroborated Mr. Ashaidey’s claims. According to him: “I believe QNET is just a victim of circumstance as the brand is embroiled in several misconceptions about its business. When I visited the head office of QNET, I got to know a lot of world-class products manufactured by QNET. The Homepure products that ensure that water used at home undergoes many stages of scientific filtration processes, caught my attention. In Africa, we are saddled with water pollution and in Ghana specifically, the activities of illegal and small-scale artisanal miners have led to the pollution of our water bodies, causing various water-borne diseases. Since I returned from Malaysia, I have written many articles trying to educate people about QNET and the unfortunate situation of some people who misuse the name of the company to commit fraud.”
Mr. Samuel Bio – Night Editor of the Daily Graphic corroborated all that was said by other VCON journalists and added that: “I love the science behind QNET products. Their products are well researched and have some of the topmost certifications in the world.”
Other journalists from Sierra Leone recounted their memorable VCON experiences. Mr. James Kamara-Manneh, who travelled to Malaysia as Editor of A-Z Newspaper was full of praise for QNET; “I did not know QNET was such a huge multinational company until I got to Malaysia. I saw their huge office complex and several thousands of people who attended their VCON. I marvelled at the array of products they have. I also had the opportunity of speaking with top management team of QNET and they answered all my questions. Now, I understand that QNET is real, its products are real and that some people are just misusing the company’s name or not doing the QNET business the right way. I am about to decipher between what the company does and what anyone who doesn’t follow its standards does.”
Mr. Biram Fall, in a submission read on behalf, concluded that: “We intend to interact with and build more rapport with the media. We plan to intensify our public education campaign to create more public awareness and education about our brand. We will step up our CSR interventions including expanding existing CSR projects like our collaboration with ANOPA Project in Ghana which enables blind and deaf children get access to education and sports development. We will continue to educate our independent representatives and demand more compliance to ethical marketing standards from them as we continue our fight against scam and misrepresentation.”
