Ibrahim Mahama faces Chairman Wontumi in court
The Kumasi High Court will, on December 11, 2014, start hearing a case in which Mr Ibrahim Mahama, a younger brother of President John Dramani Mahama, has sued the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Bernard Antwi-Bosiako, for defamation.
Advertisement
Mr Mahama is seeking GH¢2 million in damages.
Mr Antwi-Bosiako is alleged to have accused Mr Mahama, who is also a businessman, of being a thief and dishonest man with criminal tendencies who, together with President Mahama, have been increasing fuel prices and stashing the proceeds in banks in South Africa.
Mr Antwi-Bosiako and his lawyer, Mr Egbert Faibille, were not in court last Friday when the case was called, but Mr Faibille’s brief was held by Mr Kwabena Attah Adjei.
Mr Adjei told the court that counsel for the defendant was unable to make it to court and asked for an adjournment.
The presiding judge, Mr Justice Ringo Azumah, upheld the application by counsel for the defendant and adjourned the case to December 11, 2014 for hearing.
The plaintiff, who is being represented by Mr Charles William Zwennes, is also seeking a declaration that the defamatory statements made by Mr Antwi-Bosiako were false, malicious and defamatory to him.
According to the plaintiff, the said defamatory statements was made in a manner that were calculated to cause maximum damage and hurt to the plaintiff’s reputation by causing him to be unanimously held in disdain throughout the nation.
Other Trending Stories
His statement of claim said the statements were made maliciously and recklessly and defendant did not care whether they were true or false.
It said even though the defendant was given ample time to apologise and withdraw the defamatory statements in a letter sent by plaintiff’s lawyer to him, “he refused to do so and treated the request with contempt”.
It said Mr Antwi-Bosiako alleged at a public forum in Obuasi on March 30, 2014 that “President Mahama and his brother Ibrahim have loaded the money into their pockets.Each and every day, they increase petrol prices and then you and I, the downtrodden, suffer to pay for the increases’’.
The statement said Mr Antwi-Bosiako claimed that he (Mr Mahama) secretly orchestrated an enterprise of stealing those monies which happened to be public funds, having been realised from the citizenry of Ghana by the Head of Government of Ghana under a false pretext.