Minority Leader files fresh defamation suit against Goldbod CEO

MINORITY Leader in Parliament, Mr Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin, has filed a fresh defamation suit at the High Court in Accra, seeking damages against Messrs Sammy Gyamfi, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Gold Board (GoldBod), and Eric Adjei, Chief Executive of the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP).

Mr Afenyo-Markin, the plaintiff, sued the two for allegedly calling him an extortionist on different media platforms in August.

He insists that he is not an extortionist and wants the High Court to punish Messrs Gyamfi and Adjei for tarnishing his hard-won reputation.

Mr Afenyo-Markin, who is the Member of Parliament for the Efutu Constituency in the Central Region, discontinued the first suit he filed against Mr Adjei at the Achimota Circuit Court on Tuesday, October 20.

Prior to that, the High Court in Accra dismissed a similar suit filed against Mr Gyamfi on grounds that the suit was defective.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Mr Afenyo-Markin’s counsel, F. Paa Kwesi Abaidoo, said the fresh writ was filed in accordance with the court’s latest interpretation of the applicable rules, although the legal team disagreed with the earlier decision to set aside the previous writ.

“Although we disagree with the High Court’s earlier decision setting aside our client’s previous writ, this new writ has been issued against the Defendants in accordance with the Court’s latest interpretation of the rules,” the statement said.

Mr Afenyo-Markin sued Mr Gyamfi after 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 panellist 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.

Mr Afenyo-Markin sued Eric Adjei for repeating the extortionist claim on Despite Media.

For this reason, Mr Afenyo-Markin joined Despite Media in the suit he filed against Eric Adjei at the Achimota Circuit Court, which has been discontinued.

BY MALIK SULLEMANA

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