Kennedy Agyapong in court again for defamation

A retired Chief State Attorney, Ms Ellen Kwawukume, has dragged the Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin Central, Mr Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, to court for defamation.

She has sued the MP for falsely accusing her of demanding bribe from ace international investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas.

Ms Kwawukume is demanding GH¢25 million general damages for libellous and defamatory words the MP published on private media platforms between June and July, 2018.

She said in his campaign dubbed, “Who watches the watchman,” the MP accused her of demanding GH¢5,000 from Mr Anas to badly handle a prosecution.

Other reliefs

Ms Kwawukume is also seeking an order for retraction and apology to be published on all media platforms where she was defamed, as well as other platforms with equal prominence and intensity.

The plaintiff is again praying the court to grant a perpetual injunction restraining Mr Agyapong and his agents from further publishing defamatory materials against her.

Punitive costs and legal fees assessed at the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) scale of fees in operation at the date of judgement and other reliefs the court may deem just and equitable are also being sought.

Joined to the suit as defendants are KenCity Media Limited, Net 2 TV and Oman FM.

Mr David K. Ametefe is the counsel for Ms Kwawukume.

Particulars

The MP and the SALIS newspaper produced a video documentary titled: “Who watches the watchman,” which sought to project journalist Anas as a corrupt person who demanded bribes to exonerate people he had investigated and found to be corrupt.

The video created the impression that Ms Kwawukume demanded and received a bribe from Anas to stop pursuing a case against people whose interest Anas was serving.

Demand for apology

Ms Kwawukume in July this year demanded a retraction and an apology from the lawmaker.

She said the impression created by Mr Agyapong and the SALIS was false.

Ms Kwawukume at the time served notice that failure to render the apology within seven days would result in a legal action against the MP.

Thus the MP’s failure to retract the claim and apologise has culminated in the lawsuit.