President John Mahama has spoken for the first time on the bribery allegation against the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu the second, describing the whole story as lies. The President said the spate of lies and insult on personalities in the country especially after the Supreme Court judgment on the 2012 general elections is unfortunate. The President questioned why some people cannot criticize without necessarily peddling falsehood against key personalities including himself and the Asantehene. Speaking at a Presidential Thanksgiving Service in his honor at the Cedar Mountain Chapel here in Accra, President Mahama said such developments will not help move the nation forward. The president lamented that "When you listen to the cacophony that we have and the insults and the intemperate language you wonder is that moving society forward? Nobody said don't criticize but criticize politely and civilly. Indeed you win a person over when you criticize in a way that makes the criticism easy to take." He urged that "the media must help to make society go forward not make society go back." Citing an example, the President Mahama said "a recent lie that somehow Otumfuo was the conduit for passing bribes to the judges and now you can't hold anybody responsible because somebody did it online." He faulted the radio station that used the story without checking for the authenticity stating the outcome "must serve as a lesson to all of us." President Mahama also spoke against the continuous vilification of the Justices who sat and ruled on the election petition. He noted that, "Our Justices have a difficult job. You bring a case to them they must decide it one way or the other. This case could have gone the other way and so when they have taken a decision must we vilify them? Today everybody get ups and he is insulting the Justices...they have taken the decision let's put it behind us and let's look forward." President Mahama also urged the media to be circumspect in the way they discuss the matter. The President and his family were joined by some government officials and ministers to thank God for the peace in the country after the ruling. Head Pastor of the church, Rev. Dr. Stephen Wengam tasked the President not to give up especially during difficult moments and also called on Ghanaians to do everything possible to maintain and improve on the peace in the country.