The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta, has initiated a legal action for defamation against Captain Smart, a well-known presenter on Onua television and radio.
It has been reported that Captain Smart brought attention to the fact that Mr. Ofori-Atta received 10% of Ghana’s $3 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund during one of his broadcasts.
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On behalf of Ken Ofori-Atta, his lawyer, Bright Okyere Adjekum, filed a formal complaint in the High Court on Friday, June 2. The petition states that on May 22nd, during the “Maakye with Captain Smart” program, which aired on Onua TV, Onua FM, and the internet, the defendant made the statement, “Are you aware that Ken Ofori Atta has taken his 10% of the IMF money? When we get a loan, he takes ten percent.”
The attorney representing Minister Ken Ofori-Atta asserts that these statements are not only clearly false and entirely fabricated but also intended to defame and harm the reputation of the plaintiff.
The Writ said, in part, that the comments in question “are malicious and were clearly further intended to convey and would be understood to convey meanings that diminish the plaintiff in the minds of right-thinking members of society.”
Ken Ofori Atta in the lawsuit filed against Captain Smart demands “recovery of the sum of Ten Million Ghana Cedis (GHSI0,000,000.00) as general damages, including aggravated and/or exemplary damages for defamation for the libel uttered by Defendant.”
Among other reliefs seeks an apology for and retraction of the remarks complained of and particularized above. “An apology for and retraction of the words complained of and particularised,” and fourth, a “perpetual injunction restraining the Defendant whether by himself, his servants, agents, or assigns, from repeating similar or other defamatory words against the plaintiff.”
