Private attorney named Tsatsu Tsikata (plaintiff) has filed a defamation lawsuit against Kofi Akpaloo (1st Defendant), the Liberal Party of Ghana’s (LPG) presidential candidate.
Excellence In Broadcasting (EIB) Network, the owner of GHOne Television, was named as the second defendant in the lawsuit against Mr. Akpaloo for permitting Mr. Akpaloo to utilize its network to make false allegations against him.
According to the plaintiff’s statement of claim, Mr. Akpaloo, the first defendant, stated in an interview on GHOne on November 19, 2024, as part of his presidential campaign, that Mr. Tsikata stated that the country was doing better under President Mahama than it is now because “he was getting contracts under Mahama”.
Mr. Akpaloo further implied that “those who were getting the goodies” would be the ones expressing what Mr. Tsikata had said about President Mahama, according to Mr. Tsatsu, the former CEO of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation.
The plaintiff claimed that Mr. Akpaloo’s remarks about him on GHOne, which were stated above, were untrue and harmed his reputation among morally upright people.
He said in their natural and ordinary meaning the above-quoted statements of Akpaloo published by the GHOne meant, and were understood to mean, that the plaintiff was only making the assessment he made about President Mahama because “he was getting contracts under Mahama”, “he was getting the best deals” and he was among “those who were getting the goodies” under form President Mahama.
Mr Tsikata said in their natural and ordinary meaning these words portrayed the plaintiff as a person whose views were tainted by sheer self-interest, thus lowering the esteem of the Ppaintiff in the eyes of right-thinking members of the society.
“In their natural and ordinary meaning these words portray the Plaintiff as a person who obtained favours under President Mahama and whose opinion cannot, therefore, be trusted,” he said.
He said the above-quoted words of Akpaloo on the television station of GHOne were egregious falsehoods against him and impacted negatively on his hard-won reputation.
The plaintiff, therefore sought an order of mandatory injunction requiring Defendants to cause to be published similarly to how the defamatory statements were published an apology to him and a withdrawal and retraction of the said words of Akpaloo about him.
He also sought an order of mandatory injunction requiring GHOne 2nd to affix onto the publication of the interview of the Akpaloo above referred to on its website and other social media handles, its apology and the withdrawal and retraction of the false statements of Akpaloo about him.
He also sought punitive costs against Akpaloo.
