Transport Minister files GH5 million defamation suit against “The Law Platform”

The Transport Minister, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah (the plaintiff), has filed a GHC5 million defamation lawsuit against “The Law Platform” and its editor (the defendant) after the media outlet failed to retract and apologise for an article it published recently under the headline, “Transport Minister and his wife dragged to court for ‘land grabbing’ using state security”, despite a demand notice served on the media house.

According to the Transport Minister’s statement of claim filed by his lawyers, Ofori Asiamah argues that his reputational value as a result of his professional and public service is worth more than GHC5 million at present.

He also says that the publication by the defendant on his website, The Law Platform, is defamatory of the minister’s hard-earned reputation as a public servant with several years of service.

On Wednesday 8 May 2024, a demand notice issued by Addo and Addo Legal Attorneys, signed by Nii Kpakpo Samoa Addo, demanded an apology and a retraction from “The Law Platform” and further declared that “failure” on the part of “The Law Platform” to comply with the demand within 24 hours would leave the firm’s client with no choice but to pursue all available legal remedies to seek redress for the harm caused to the client’s reputation.

“We act as solicitors for Mr Kwaku Ofori Asiamah and Mrs Wilhemina Asiamah, on whose instructions we write to you. Our clients informed us that on 7 May 2024, you published an article titled ‘Transport Minister and his wife dragged to court for “land grabbing” using state security’ on your website. The statements made in the aforementioned article are entirely malicious.

“In the said publication, the following defamatory statements were made of our clients: ‘Transport Minister and his wife dragged to court for ‘land grabbing’ using state security’: ‘The Minister for Transport and his wife Mrs Wilhemina Asiamah are due for court on Thursday 9 May 2024 for unlawfully entering and trespassing on land located at the prime and much-sought-after Tse Addo residential enclave,’” the demand letter read.

“Our clients inform us that the assertions made in the said article portray our clients in a false and damaging light, thereby impugning their reputation and causing significant harm to their personal and professional standing.

“Our clients have instructed us to demand an immediate retraction of the defamatory statements published by your media outlet, accompanied by a formal apology issued in a prominent manner commensurate with the prominence of the original publication,” the letter from the lawyers for the Transport Minister further said.

Reliefs

To this end, the minister is seeking seven reliefs from the court. First, he is asking for “a declaration that the statement made by Defendant against Plaintiff and published on The Law Platform online portal stating that: ‘Transport Minister and his wife dragged to court for ‘land grabbing’ using state security’. ‘The Minister for Transport and his wife, Mrs Wilhemina Asiamah, are due for court on Thursday 9 May 2024 for unlawfully entering and trespassing on land located at the prime and much-sought-after Tse Addo residential enclave’ is defamatory of the Plaintiff”.

Second, Ofori Asiamah is seeking “an order directed at Defendant to retract the said defamatory statement made about Plaintiff and published on The Law Platform online portal” and, third, “an order directed at Defendant to publish an apology to Plaintiff in the following manner: by making three publications of the apology on The Law Platform online portal, by making one publication in a national daily newspaper, and by posting on the Facebook social media platform with the same prominence the defamatory words received within seven days of the judgment being delivered by this Honourable Court”.

Fourth, the minister is demanding “general damages against Defendant in favour of Plaintiff for the defamatory statement posted by Defendant on The Law Platform online portal in tune with the reputational value of Plaintiff” and, fifth, “aggravated damages against Defendant for subjecting Plaintiff to humiliating and malicious circumstances through his defamatory statement against Plaintiff posted on The Law Platform online portal”.

Sixth, the plaintiff is calling for “punitive damages against Defendant in favour of Plaintiff as punishment for the defamatory statement posted on The Law Platform online portal” and, lastly, he seeks “compensatory damages against Defendant in favour of Plaintiff for the defamatory statement posted on The Law Platform online portal by Defendant”.

The Law Platform

The Law Platform, according to its website www.thelawplatform.online, was established and is being run in honour of Mr and Mrs P K Danso of Akyem Asene, valued members of the Church of Pentecost whose lives have impacted the lives of many.

The platform is an online law magazine for legal and non-legal minds.

Founded on 30 June 2021, the magazine seeks to provide scholarly information on what the law is and non-scholarly content on all subjects, how ever loosely connected to the law they might be.

The founder of the website is Jonathan Owusu Asare, a lawyer with specialisations in financial markets law and regulation.

He is also the lead editor and consultant.

Reporting by Wilberforce Asare in Accra

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