Minority Leader in Parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has sued the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), Sammy Gyamfi, at the High Court in Accra, seeking GH₵15 million in damages for alleged defamation.
The suit follows comments made by Mr Gyamfi during a discussion on the Bank of Ghana’s reported $1.7 billion loss from gold purchases on JoyNews’ Newsfile programme on Saturday, August 22.
Mr Gyamfi, who was a panelist on the programme, described Mr Afenyo-Markin as an “extortionist” while responding to the Minority Leader’s attribution of the reported loss to GoldBod.
Mr Gyamfi subsequently challenged Mr Afenyo-Markin to sue him, saying he would provide evidence to substantiate his allegation.
In his statement of claim, Mr Afenyo-Markin said he was not an extortionist and had never engaged in extortion or any conduct of the nature alleged by Mr Gyamfi.
He said the alleged defamatory statements had damaged his reputation as a legal practitioner and senior political figure, whose professional and public standing was of considerable importance.
The plaintiff argued that describing a legal practitioner and a senior parliamentary figure as an extortionist was particularly grave and had exposed him to hatred, ridicule, contempt and public disapprobation.
He further contended that the statements created a false impression that he used his public position and political influence to extort or improperly negotiate with public officials.
According to the suit, the allegations had caused serious injury to his character, reputation, professional standing and public image.
Mr Afenyo-Markin is seeking several reliefs jointly and severally against Mr Gyamfi and Multimedia Group, named as the second defendant.
Among other things, he is asking the court to order the defendants to publish a full, unconditional and unequivocal retraction of the alleged defamatory statements and issue a public apology to him.
He is also seeking an order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants, their servants, agents, assigns or any persons acting under their authority from further publishing the alleged defamatory words or words having the same or substantially similar meaning.
The Minority Leader stated that he would rely on the wide circulation of the publication and the subsequent viral dissemination of the recording to demonstrate the extent of the damage caused to his reputation.
The action follows Mr Afenyo-Markin’s earlier reference to Jesus Christ’s admonition to “turn the other cheek” when slapped, suggesting that he initially intended not to respond to the allegations through litigation.
BY MALIK SULLEMANA
Follow our WhatsApp Channel now! https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbAjG7g3gvWajUAEX12Q
